AG James announced a landmark settlement with Americare, Inc. (Americare), a New York City home care services agency, for underpaying thousands of home health aides and defrauding the Medicaid program. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Americare failed to provide home health aides the compensation they were owed under the Wage Parity law while continuing to unlawfully seek Medicaid reimbursement. Under today’s agreement, Americare will deliver nearly $45 million in unpaid wages to thousands of home health aides who worked for the company between 2014 and 2020 and pay an additional $10 million to New York’s Medicaid program to resolve related state and federal False Claims Act violations. The combined $55 million settlement is the largest wage parity agreement ever secured by OAG. 

“Home health aides work tirelessly to care for our most vulnerable neighbors every single day. Americare underpaid these workers for years, violating the law and cheating taxpayers. Today’s agreement returns nearly $55 million to the selfless individuals who earned it and to the Medicaid program they serve. My office will continue to fight for every dollar owed to New Yorkers and ensure no company profits by stealing from workers or from Medicaid.” – AG James