New York Home Health Agencies Pay Millions in Settlement for Wage Theft and Medicaid Fraud

New York City, NY – New York Attorney General Letitia James and U.S. Attorney Breon Peace have secured a landmark settlement against two Brooklyn-based home health care agencies, Edison and Preferred, for their alleged violations of the Wage Parity Act and Medicaid fraud. The agencies will pay a total of $17.25 million in restitution and penalties.

The settlement comes after an investigation revealed that the agencies had been underpaying their home health aides, many of whom are immigrant women and women of color, for years. Edison and Preferred failed to provide their employees with the required benefits, such as paid vacation time, using the funds intended for this purpose to increase their own profits.

In addition to underpaying their employees, Edison and Preferred were also accused of defrauding the Medicaid program by falsely claiming that they were in compliance with the Wage Parity Act. The agencies received millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements for care provided by home health aides, even though they were not paying their employees the required wages and benefits.

Under the terms of the settlement, Edison and Preferred will pay $7.5 million in unpaid wages and benefits to more than 25,000 current and former employees. They will also pay $9.75 million to the Medicaid program. The agencies have also agreed to implement new policies and procedures to ensure that they comply with the Wage Parity Act in the future.

“Home health aides provide essential care to our most vulnerable neighbors and loved ones,” said Attorney General James. “They deserve to be paid fairly for their hard work. Edison and Preferred cheated their employees out of years of pay and cheated New York taxpayers by defrauding Medicaid. This is a tremendous victory for our ongoing efforts to protect hardworking New Yorkers’ rightfully earned wages.”

“Home health aides work long hours at difficult, often thankless tasks to ensure that the vulnerable individuals who they provide services to are properly cared for,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “These aides deserve the hard-earned benefits guaranteed them under the law and my office will ensure that they are accurately compensated.”

The settlement is the largest of its kind in New York State and sends a strong message to other home health care agencies that they will be held accountable for violating the Wage Parity Act and defrauding Medicaid.