Item 1. Legal Proceedings
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we may be involved in various legal proceedings and subject to claims that arise in the ordinary course of business.
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On October 14, 2021, the Company was named as a defendant in a putative class action complaint filed in the District Court for the District of Colorado on behalf of individuals who purchased or acquired shares of the Company’s common stock during a specified period. Through the complaint, plaintiffs are asserting claims against the Company, certain of the Company’s officers and the underwriters in the Company’s IPO, alleging violations of Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 for making allegedly inaccurate and misleading statements and omissions in connection with the Company’s IPO and seeking compensatory damages, among other things.
In July 2021, the Company received a civil investigative demand from the Attorney General for the State of Colorado under the Colorado Medicaid False Claims Act. The demand requests information and documents regarding Medicaid billing, patient services and referrals in connection with the Company’s PACE program in Colorado. We continue to fully cooperate with the Attorney General and produce the requested information and documentation. We are currently unable to predict the outcome of this investigation.
In February 2022, the Company received a civil investigative demand from the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) under the Federal False Claims Act on similar subject matter. The demand requests information and documents regarding audits, billing, orders tracking, and quality and timeliness of patient services in connection with the Company’s PACE programs in the states where the Company operates (California, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia). The Company is fully cooperating with the DOJ to produce the requested information and documentation. We are currently unable to predict the outcome of this investigation.
Although the results of legal proceedings and claims are inherently unpredictable and uncertain, we do not believe that any of the legal proceedings with which we are currently involved would , if determined adversely to us, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, cash flows or financial condition. Regardless of the outcome, litigation has the potential to have an adverse impact on us due to any related defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources, and other factors.
Item 1.A Risk Factors
Other than the updates to the risk factor set forth below, there have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in the “Risk factors” section of our 2021 10-K .
Risks Related to our Business
We may be subject to legal proceedings, enforcement actions and litigation, malpractice and privacy disputes, which are costly to defend and could materially harm our business and results of operations.
We may be party to lawsuits and legal proceedings in the normal course of business. These matters are often expensive and disruptive to normal business operations. We may face allegations, lawsuits and regulatory inquiries, requests for information, audits and investigations regarding care and services provided to participants, the False Claims Act (“FCA”), data privacy, security, labor and employment, consumer protection or intellectual property. We may also face allegations or litigation related to our acquisitions, securities issuances or business practices, including public disclosures about our business. On October 14, 2021, the Company was named as a defendant in a putative class action complaint filed in the District Court for the District of Colorado on behalf of individuals who purchased or acquired shares of the Company’s common stock during a specified period. We are currently unable to predict the outcome of this proceeding. See Item 1, Legal Proceedings.
Litigation and regulatory proceedings may be protracted and expensive, and the results are difficult to predict. Certain of these matters include claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages and may include claims for injunctive relief. Additionally, our litigation costs could be significant. Adverse outcomes with respect to litigation or any of these legal proceedings may result in significant settlement costs or judgments, penalties, fines and sanctions. In the event of compliance issues, sanctions could include civil monetary penalties, corrective action plans, monitoring, contract termination, and/or CMS and/or Medicaid agencies suspending or restricting enrollment with us (as is the case currently with respect to our Sacramento, California center, and our centers in the State of
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Colorado), which could negatively impact our geographical expansion and revenue growth. We are also subject to periodic audits, which have and may continue to increase our regulatory compliance costs and may require us to change our business practices, which could negatively impact our revenue growth. Managing legal proceedings, regulatory inquiries, litigation and audits, even if we achieve favorable outcomes, is costly, time-consuming and diverts management’s attention from our business.
The results of regulatory proceedings, investigations, inquiries, litigation, claims, and audits cannot be predicted with certainty, and determining reserves for pending litigation and other legal, regulatory and audit matters requires significant judgment and assumptions. There can be no assurance that our expectations will prove correct, and even if these matters are resolved in our favor or without significant cash settlements, these matters, and the time and resources necessary to litigate or resolve them, cause harm to our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and the market price of our common stock.
We are also subject to lawsuits under the FCA and comparable state laws for submitting allegedly fraudulent, inadequately supported or otherwise inappropriate bills for services to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These lawsuits, which may be initiated by government authorities as well as private party relators, can involve significant monetary damages, fines, attorney fees and the award of bounties to private plaintiffs who successfully bring these suits, as well as to the government programs. In recent years, government oversight and law enforcement have become increasingly active and aggressive in investigating and taking legal action against potential fraud and abuse.
In July 2021, the Company received a civil investigative demand from the Attorney General for the State of Colorado under the Colorado Medicaid False Claims Act. The demand requests information and documents regarding Medicaid billing, patient services and referrals in connection with the Company’s PACE program in Colorado. We continue to fully cooperate with the Attorney General and produce the requested information and documentation. We are currently unable to predict the outcome of this investigation.
In February 2022, the Company received a civil investigative demand from the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) under the Federal False Claims Act on similar subject matter. The demand requests information and documents regarding audits, billing, orders tracking, and quality and timeliness of patient services in connection with the Company’s PACE programs in the states where the Company operates (California, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia). The Company is fully cooperating with the DOJ to produce the requested information and documentation. We are currently unable to predict the outcome of this investigation.
Furthermore, our business exposes us to potential medical malpractice, professional negligence or other related actions or claims that are inherent in the provision of healthcare services. While the industry has not seen an increase in the number of claims of this nature due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this remains a possibility due to the relatively lengthy claim development inherent in professional liability claims. These claims, whether or not they have merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs, and could place a significant strain on our financial resources, divert the attention of management from our core business, harm our reputation and adversely affect our ability to attract and retain participants, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Although we maintain third-party professional liability insurance coverage, it is possible that claims against us may exceed the coverage limits of our insurance policies. Even if any professional liability loss is covered by an insurance policy, these policies typically have substantial deductibles for which we are responsible. Professional liability claims in excess of applicable insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any professional liability claim brought against us, whether or not they have merit, could result in an increase of our professional liability insurance premiums. Insurance coverage varies in cost and can be difficult to obtain, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain insurance coverage in the future on terms acceptable to us or at all. If our costs of insurance and claims increase, then our earnings could decline.
We depend on our senior management team and other key employees, and the loss of one or more of these employees or an inability to attract and retain other highly skilled employees could harm our business.
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Our success depends largely upon the services of our senior management team and other key employees. We rely on our leadership team in the areas of operations, provision of medical services, information technology and security, marketing, and general and administrative functions. Since we became a public company, there have been changes in our executive management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives. Effective January 1, 2022, our Board of Directors elevated Patrick Blair, then President of the Company, to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer to replace Maureen Hewitt, our former Chief Executive Officer, who resigned effective on that same date. Even though Mr. Blair has had a long and successful career in healthcare, joining the Company from BAYADA Home Health Care, where he was the Group President responsible for overall quality and financial performance of the Home Health, Hospice and Personal Care businesses, failure to execute a smooth transition could affect the execution of our business strategy and relationships with regulators and other stakeholders. In addition, our employment agreements with our executive officers and other key personnel do not require them to continue to work for us for any specified period and, therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time. The loss, whether as a result of voluntary termination or illness, of one or more of the members of our senior management team, or other key employees, could harm our business. Changes in our executive management team may also cause disruptions in, and harm to, our business.
Risks Related to Regulation
We face inspections, reviews, audits and investigations under federal and state government programs and contracts. These audits require corrective actions and have resulted in adverse findings that have negatively affected and may continue to affect our business, including our results of operations, liquidity, financial condition and reputation.
As a result of our PACE contracts with CMS and state government agencies, state licenses, and participation in Medicaid, we are routinely subject to, and will continue to be subject to, various governmental inspections, reviews, audits, requests for information and investigations to verify our compliance with requirements of these programs and applicable laws and regulations, assess the quality of the services we are providing to our participants, and evaluate the accuracy of the risk adjustment data we have submitted to the government.
On May 26, 2021, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (“HCPF”) and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (“CDPHE”) initiated a joint audit of our Colorado PACE centers, and on June 21, 2021, CMS also initiated a separate focused desk audit of our Colorado PACE program. We received preliminary findings from CMS and HCPF/CDPHE in July 2021, followed by validation results in October 2021. In conjunction with providing validation results, the agencies referred our case to the Compliance and Enforcement Division of CMS for review and possible further action. Effective December 23, 2021, CMS suspended new enrollments at the Company’s Colorado centers, based on deficiencies detected in the joint audit related to participant quality of care. The suspension will remain in effect until CMS determines that we have remediated the deficiencies to their satisfaction. Effective on the same date, HCPF also determined to impose sanctions and suspended new enrollments at the Company’s Colorado centers identifying certain deficiencies specific to Medicaid. In addition, as a result of their specific findings, CDPHE mandated that we retain a consultant for a period of 12 months to oversee our remediation efforts, and issued a $10,000 penalty, which we have paid. On January 17, 2022 and February 5, 2022, we submitted a CAP to each of CDPHE and CMS, respectively. A separate CAP for HCPF is due on February 22, 2022. We cannot guarantee that these agencies will accept our CAPs, that if accepted, we will be able to implement the CAPs, or that we will be able to remedy the deficiencies specified by each of the agencies. In addition, although these agencies coordinate many of the actions taken with respect to these audits, they each have separate mandates and are not obligated to act together or reach the same decisions. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the agencies will not separately request further actions or impose additional separate sanctions.
On May 10, 2021, CMS began a routine, scheduled audit of our Sacramento, California center. On September 17, 2021, we were notified that CMS had determined to suspend new enrollments at our Sacramento center based on deficiencies detected in the audit related to participant quality of care, and on September 30, 2021, we were further notified that the Department of Health Care Services (“DHCS”) of the State of California had reached the same determination. The suspension will remain in effect until CMS and DHCS determine that we have remediated the deficiencies to their satisfaction. We submitted a CAP on October 15, 2021, which has been accepted by both CMS
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and DHCS. As a result, both agencies are currently monitoring the implementation of the CAP. On January 7, 2022, DHCS notified us that it was suspending the State’s previously provided assurances that it would enter into a PACE program agreement with the Company (State Attestations) with respect to de novo centers in the State of California until such time as the CAPs and the remediation and validation processes for our Sacramento center have been successfully completed and the enrollment sanctions are lifted. As a result of the suspension, we will be unable to open one of the de novo centers we had identified in California within our planned timeline.
In addition, on February 9, 2022, we received notice from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services of the State of Kentucky informing us that they no longer intend to enter into an agreement with us to be a PACE provider in the State of Kentucky. We intend to work closely with the Cabinet to attempt to address any issues that may have prompted the notification.
As previously disclosed, in November 2021, CMS began a routine audit of our Albuquerque, New Mexico center. On November 23, 2021, we received preliminary results identifying certain deficiencies related to participant quality of care. We are currently in the audit validation process, which entails provision of various participant records. Following such process, we expect to receive final results from the audit. At this time, we cannot guarantee the outcome of this audit, including whether or not sanctions will be imposed. If CMS were to suspend enrollments at, or otherwise curtail, our center or impose other sanctions, such actions could have a material adverse effect on our business operations, financial results and reputation.
At this time, we cannot guarantee the outcome of any of the audits and processes described above. If we are unable to effectively remediate the deficiencies raised by the audits, implement the CAPs we have submitted, will submit or may be required to submit, or otherwise satisfy the agencies’ concerns, we could be subject to additional sanctions and our business plan, including our growth strategy (including with respect to enrollment growth and de novo openings), would continue to be adversely impacted. In general, inspections, reviews, audits, requests for information or investigations with adverse findings, and in particular the audits described above, have resulted in and may further result in:
● temporary or permanent enrollment sanctions in the affected center(s), as is the case with our Sacramento, California center and our centers in the State of Colorado;
● refunding amounts we have been paid by the government;
● state or federal agencies imposing CAPs, fines, penalties, training, policies and procedures, and other requirements or sanctions on us;
● temporary suspension of payments;
● debarment or exclusion from participation in federal health care programs;
● self-disclosure of violations to applicable regulatory authorities;
● damage to our reputation;
● the revocation of a facility’s license; and
● loss of certain rights under, or termination of, our contracts with government payors.
We may be required to refund amounts we have been paid and/or pay fines and penalties as a result of these inspections, reviews, audits, requests for information and investigations. Any of the results noted above could have further material adverse effects on our business and operating results. Furthermore, the legal, document production and other costs associated with complying with these inspections, reviews, audits, requests for information or investigations is significant.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.