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Contingencies and Other Commitments | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Contingencies and Other Commitments | Contingencies and Other Commitments We operate in a highly regulated industry in which healthcare providers are routinely subject to litigation. As a result, various lawsuits, claims, and legal and regulatory proceedings have been and can be expected to be instituted or asserted against us. The resolution of any such lawsuits, claims, or legal and regulatory proceedings could materially and adversely affect our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in a given period. Nichols Litigation— We were named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed March 28, 2003 by several individual stockholders in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, captioned Nichols v. HealthSouth Corp. The plaintiffs allege that we, some of our former officers, and our former investment bank engaged in a scheme to overstate and misrepresent our earnings and financial position. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. This case was stayed in the circuit court on August 8, 2005. The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on November 9, 2010 to which we responded with a motion to dismiss filed on December 22, 2010. During a hearing on February 24, 2012, plaintiffs’ counsel indicated his intent to dismiss certain claims against us. Instead, on March 9, 2012, the plaintiffs amended their complaint to include additional securities fraud claims against Encompass Health and add several former officers to the lawsuit. On September 12, 2012, the plaintiffs further amended their complaint to request certification as a class action. One of the former officers named as a defendant has repeatedly attempted to remove the case to federal district court, most recently on December 11, 2012. We filed our latest motion to remand the case back to state court on January 10, 2013. On September 27, 2013, the federal court remanded the case back to state court. On November 25, 2014, the plaintiffs filed another amended complaint to assert new allegations relating to the time period of 1997 to 2002. On December 10, 2014, we filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds the plaintiffs lack standing because their claims were derivative in nature, and the claims were time-barred by the statute of limitations. On May 26, 2016, the court granted our motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs appealed the dismissal of the case to the Supreme Court of Alabama on June 28, 2016. On March 23, 2018, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s dismissal, holding that the plaintiffs’ claims were not derivative or time-barred, and remanded the case for further proceedings. On April 6, 2018, we filed an application for rehearing with the Alabama Supreme Court. On March 22, 2019, the Alabama Supreme Court denied our application for rehearing and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings. In July 2019, we entered into settlement agreements with all but one plaintiff and paid those settling plaintiffs an aggregate amount of cash less than $0.1 million. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this case against the sole remaining plaintiff. Based on the stage of litigation, review of the current facts and circumstances as we understand them, the nature of the underlying claim, the results of the proceedings to date, and the nature and scope of the defense we continue to mount, we do not believe an adverse judgment or settlement is probable in this matter, and it is also not possible to estimate an amount of loss, if any, or range of possible loss that might result from an adverse judgment or settlement of this case. Other Litigation— One of our hospital subsidiaries was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed August 12, 2013 by an individual in the Circuit Court of Etowah County, Alabama, captioned Honts v. HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Gadsden, LLC. The plaintiff alleged that her mother, who died more than three months after being discharged from our hospital, received an unprescribed opiate medication at the hospital. We deny the patient received any such medication, accounted for all the opiates at the hospital and argued the plaintiff established no causal liability between the actions of our staff and her mother’s death. The plaintiff sought recovery for punitive damages. On May 18, 2016, the jury in this case returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $20.0 million. On June 17, 2016, we filed a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, a motion for new trial or, in the further alternative, a motion seeking reduction of the damages awarded (collectively, the “post-judgment motions”). The trial court denied the post-judgment motions. We appealed the verdict as well as the rulings on the post-judgment motions to the Supreme Court of Alabama on October 12, 2016. On September 28, 2018, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case for a new trial. On October 12, 2018, the plaintiff filed an application for rehearing with the Alabama Supreme Court, and we filed a brief in opposition to the rehearing application on October 25, 2018. As a result of the Alabama Supreme Court’s reversal, we reduced the associated liability below our insurance retention level of $6.0 million, and no longer maintained an insurance receivable in our condensed consolidated balance sheet because we believed the liability did not exceed that retention level. As of December 31, 2018, we maintained a liability included in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet in connection with this matter. On February 27, 2019, we entered into a settlement with the plaintiff for an amount less than the remaining liability reserved and not material to us. Governmental Inquiries and Investigations— On March 4, 2013, we received document subpoenas from an office of the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (the “HHS-OIG”) addressed to four of our hospitals. Those subpoenas also requested complete copies of medical records for 100 patients treated at each of those hospitals between September 2008 and June 2012. The investigation is being conducted by the United States Department of Justice (the “DOJ”). On April 24, 2014, we received document subpoenas relating to an additional seven of our hospitals. The new subpoenas reference substantially similar investigation subject matter as the original subpoenas and request materials from the period January 2008 through December 2013. Two of the four hospitals addressed in the original set of subpoenas have received supplemental subpoenas to cover this new time period. The most recent subpoenas did not include requests for specific patient files. However, in February 2015, the DOJ requested the voluntary production of the medical records of an additional 70 patients, some of whom were treated in hospitals not subject to the subpoenas, and we provided these records. We cooperated fully with DOJ in connection with this investigation. All of the subpoenas were in connection with an investigation of alleged improper or fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid and request documents and materials relating to practices, procedures, protocols and policies, of certain pre- and post-admissions activities at these hospitals including, among other things, marketing functions, pre-admission screening, post-admission physician evaluations, patient assessment instruments, individualized patient plans of care, and compliance with the Medicare 60% rule. Under the Medicare rule commonly referred to as the “60% rule,” an inpatient rehabilitation hospital must treat 60% or more of its patients from at least one of a specified list of medical conditions in order to be reimbursed at the inpatient rehabilitation hospital payment rates, rather than at the lower acute care hospital payment rates. Based on discussions with the government during the fourth quarter of 2018 as well as the burdens and distractions associated with continuing the investigation and the likely costs of future litigation, we estimated a settlement value of $48 million and accrued a loss contingency in that amount which was included in Accrued expenses and other current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet for the year ended December 31, 2018. Following further discussions, we entered into an agreement effective as of June 21, 2019 to settle the DOJ investigation, together with related qui tam or “whistleblower” lawsuits, for a payment of $48 million, $46.4 million of which was paid during the second quarter of 2019. In return for the settlement payment, the qui tam plaintiffs dismissed with prejudice their pending claims, and the DOJ provided Encompass Health and all its subsidiaries with a release from civil liability. Other Matters— The False Claims Act allows private citizens, called “relators,” to institute civil proceedings on behalf of the United States alleging violations of the False Claims Act. These lawsuits, also known as “whistleblower” or “qui tam” actions, can involve significant monetary damages, fines, attorneys’ fees and the award of bounties to the relators who successfully prosecute or bring these suits to the government. Qui tam cases are sealed at the time of filing, which means knowledge of the information contained in the complaint typically is limited to the relator, the federal government, and the presiding court. The defendant in a qui tam action may remain unaware of the existence of a sealed complaint for years. While the complaint is under seal, the government reviews the merits of the case and may conduct a broad investigation and seek discovery from the defendant and other parties before deciding whether to intervene in the case and take the lead on litigating the claims. The court lifts the seal when the government makes its decision on whether to intervene. If the government decides not to intervene, the relator may elect to continue to pursue the lawsuit individually on behalf of the government. It is possible that qui tam lawsuits have been filed against us, which suits remain under seal, or that we are unaware of such filings or precluded by existing law or court order from discussing or disclosing the filing of such suits. We may be subject to liability under one or more undisclosed qui tam cases brought pursuant to the False Claims Act. It is our obligation as a participant in Medicare and other federal healthcare programs to routinely conduct audits and reviews of the accuracy of our billing systems and other regulatory compliance matters. As a result of these reviews, we have made, and will continue to make, disclosures to the HHS-OIG and CMS relating to amounts we suspect represent over-payments from these programs, whether due to inaccurate billing or otherwise. Some of these disclosures have resulted in, or may result in, Encompass Health refunding amounts to Medicare or other federal healthcare programs.

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