Accused killer Luigi Mangione could have focused UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson over hatred of his firm’s insurance policies — however the suspect’s circle of relatives made tens of millions with a nursing residence community that was rife with violations and complaints, in response to the Division of Well being and Human Companies (HSS).
The for-profit Lorien Well being Companies community, based by Mangione’s prosperous grandparents, touts its 9 Maryland properties as idyllic locations with the promise of top-class providers and facilities that embrace restaurant-style eating, film theaters and even magnificence spas.
However no less than two of the properties have been hit with low scores by Medicare.gov for well being inspections and quality-of-life points, with one slammed with a warning label over experiences of abuse.
The Lorien Nursing and Rehab Heart, in Bel Air, was accused of mistreating its sufferers in a number of incidents that occurred inside the house, in response to an April 2024 inspection by HSS.
The report discovered that on August 24, 2023, a geriatric nursing assistant (GNA) flung a name bell at a resident who wanted assist utilizing the lavatory, warning the affected person “to not press the button once more.”
That very same day, the GNA was additionally accused of being too tough when aiding a resident who wanted to be turned over in mattress, with the employees later medicating the affected person with Tylenol for the ache.
Whereas the GNA was fired over the bell-flinging incident, the HHS inspection discovered that the corporate failed in its due diligence after reviewing the nurse’s file and discovering that that they had not accomplished their annual abuse coaching since 2020.
The report additionally cited a number of claims from residents that the nursing employees failed to answer their requires help in a well timed method, with some ready almost an hour to get assist.
“Based mostly on medical document assessment of a grievance and a facility reported incident, assessment of medical data and interview with employees, it was decided that the power failed to make sure that a resident was free from psychological and bodily abuse,” the report concludes.
General, the Bel Air facility has been hit with 24 well being citations during the last six years, almost 3 times greater than the nationwide common of 9.6 citations.
Lorien’s Columbia facility, in the meantime, needed to pay a $24,680 advantageous in July following an HHS inspection that discovered a plethora of well being and security violations within the nursing residence.
The July report additionally recorded a slew of incidents all year long during which employees commonly mismanaged sufferers’ well being care wants and failed to speak with one another, the residents or the households of the residents.
The mismanagement triggered moments of misery for the sufferers, together with one incident during which a resident who wanted assist getting dressed was left alone and bare on a mattress when one other affected person of the other gender walked into the room.
In June, Lorien Well being Companies additionally agreed to pay the federal authorities $55,192 for allegedly violating the Civil Financial Penalties Regulation by retaining the providers of an unlicensed particular person, the Day by day Mail experiences.
The Workplace of Inspector Common for the HSS claimed Lorien “allegedly submitted claims for providers offered by a person impersonating licensed nursing employees, utilizing stolen credentials.”
Officers additionally stated that “after Lorien realized the worker was an imposter and unlicensed, Lorien did not well timed report and return to Medicare and Medicaid funds acquired for providers furnished by the worker.”
A spokesman for the corporate instructed The Put up that the standing of abuse cited for the Bel Air location was being disputed and the fines paid by Lorien over the violations are however a tiny fraction of the tens of millions paid by related amenities throughout the state.
“For 47 years, Lorien has excelled at offering unparalleled assisted residing and nursing residence look after our residents,” Lou Grimmel Sr., CEO for Lorien Well being Companies, stated in a press release.
“We’ve been guided by our founders’ delight of possession and their principal worth that ‘we’re household taking good care of households, mates, and neighbors.’
“We embrace this mantra day-after-day together with our CareForward method, which grows from our crew embracing innovation, new strategies, {and professional} care that set us other than the pack,” Grimmel added.
Mangione’s grandmother, Mary, who left the household some $30 million in a belief, was not named personally in any of the federal paperwork.
Regardless of the troubles confronted at its Bel Air and Columbia areas, the corporate remains to be among the many leaders in its business, with Lorien named among the many prime 19% of Nursing properties in US Information & World Report’s 2025 checklist.
The corporate’s healthcare violations have regained public curiosity given Mangione’s alleged hatred of the business flagged in his manifesto, in response to police.
“These parasites merely had it coming,” Mangione wrote, in response to regulation enforcement.
In his writings, Mangione railed in opposition to the “greed” of personal insurers who he accused of placing their earnings above the well-being of their purchasers.
Authorities additionally discovered engravings on the bullets utilized by the murderer — which seem to incorporate the phrases “deny,” “depose” and “defend” — phrases eerily much like a 2010 ebook condemning the insurance coverage enterprise, titled “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why insurance coverage firms don’t pay claims and what you are able to do about it.”
Thompson was notably the top of the insurance coverage division for the UnitedHealth Group, the biggest personal insurer within the nation with an extended and controversial historical past of rejecting clients’ claims.
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