The Villages Health has filed for bankruptcy as it has been revealed that it owes the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars due to erroneous Medicare billing.
The much-ballyhooed return to Dr. Marcus Welby-style medicine that was launched nearly 15 years ago has apparently run aground due to a dispute with the U.S. government over Medicare billing practices.
Court documents show that The Villages Health has liabilities of $100 to $500 million and estimated assets of $50 to $100 million. The assets include eight primary care centers and two specialty care centers located throughout The Villages.
The United States government is apparently owed $361 million. The Villages Health also has more than 200 other creditors, including various healthcare vendors.
In a letter sent Thursday to the “valued patients” of The Villages Health, Chief Executive Officer Bob Trinh admitted that The Villages Health has been on the receiving end of “hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments” through Medicare.
Even as the storm rages, The Villages Health appears to have found a potential lifeline.
Trinh said in his letter that while filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, The Villages Health has also signed an agreement to sell its assets to CenterWell, a healthcare services business of Humana.
“This will allow the healthcare system which has been providing amazing care to our patients for all these years, to continue on in the hands of a national healthcare services organization that has the resources and expertise to grow The Villages Health, and to enhance patient care,” Trinh wrote in the letter.
When the The Villages Health was launched, The Villages marketing machine went into overdrive pushing the old-style healthcare approach that harkened back to a simpler time.
“We’re bringing back the days of Marcus Welby, when physicians work together with one goal — making you healthier,” said Dr. Steven Klasko, who was a key player in the introduction of The Villages Health.
He had tried to engineer a partnership between The Villages and the University of South Florida, but that partnership collapsed when USF found itself paying most of the bills for the venture.
The Villages Health System soldiered on and most Villagers said they built meaningful relationships with the medical personnel at the care centers.
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Source: The Villages Health seeks bankruptcy after erroneous Medicare billing
