Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh.
A Maryland skilled care provider has settled a long-running court dispute with state officials, agreeing to halt operations and pay back a small portion of what state regulators had originally sought.
Under the settlement signed this week, Neiswanger Management Services and its five Maryland skilled nursing facilities must pay the state $2.2 million. The company is also precluded from enrolling as providers in the Maryland Medical Assistance Program, and NMS Entities and its chief Matthew Neiswanger agree to permanently be precluded from managing or operating nursing facilities in the state.
“The state of Maryland has agreed to walk away from its supposed blockbuster of a lawsuit against NMS, throwing in the towel for a tiny fraction of what it originally demanded,” NMS spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement issued to McKnight’s after the settlement. “NMS won’t pay a penny in new money — the state will merely keep part of some Medicaid bonds that NMS already posted. What the state really gets is this: NMS will drop its retaliation lawsuit against top state officials, sparing them from the embarrassment of a trial.”The state attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a McKnight’s request for comment.
Since 2003, NMS had operated a group of SNFs that provided specialized care to ill residents, including those who required both ventilators and dialysis. In early 2017, the Maryland Department of Health issued an order that restricted new admissions to its facilities, citing a high comparative number of notices of involuntary discharge.
Prior to that, in December 2016, Attorney General Brian Frosh also filed suit against NMS, seeking hundreds of millions in Medicaid dollars. NMS countered in March 2017, suing state officials seeking compensatory and punitive damages for what it called a “regulatory assault.”
NMS discontinued its management and operation of nursing homes in the state in February and put up a $3.3 million indemnity bond.
In a statement issued Friday, Frosh touted the settlement while scolding the provider.
“NMS and its leadership compromised the health and safety of hundreds of vulnerable people
who were in their care,” he said. “Today’s settlement ensures that NMS and
its owner will no longer operate nursing facilities in Maryland and sends the message that this
conduct is unacceptable.”
