The Connecticut Mirror
By Jenna Carlesso and Dave Altimari, July 21, 2024
Athena nursing home workers say medical bills still going unpaid
[Jamie] Iszczak, 45, said the problems started after Athena Health Care Systems — one of the largest nursing home chains in the state and the company where she has worked as a certified nursing aide for 22 years — stopped paying employee health care claims on its self-insured plan.
She estimates she has received medical bills totaling more than $85,000, and collection agencies have been calling, even though Athena continues to take $35 from her paycheck each week for insurance coverage. . .
Athena CEO Lawrence Santilli has acknowledged in letters to staff that the company is behind on paying employee health claims.
In a November 2023 email, previously reported by The Connecticut Mirror, Santilli said the company was six months behind on paying claims.
“Unfortunately, the employee health plan currently has a significant funding shortfall,” Santilli wrote in the memo to staff. “Athena has not been able to promptly meet all the funding requirements of the employee health plan. … It is our intention to fully fund all outstanding claims in the upcoming new year.”
But several workers from Connecticut and Massachusetts who spoke to the CT Mirror say that so far this year, the problem has not been resolved.
Employees who spoke to the CT Mirror say Athena has continued to take money from their paychecks for insurance — some as much as $140 per pay period. They question where the money has gone. And workers have filed complaints with several state agencies, from the Attorney General’s Office to the Department of Insurance.
Additional memos from Santilli to staff obtained by the CT Mirror show that Athena’s issues with paying health care claims date back to 2021, farther than what was previously known publicly. . .
The most recent documentation shows that 2,447 employees are enrolled in Athena’s health plan, though the company last month sold five of its facilities and does not yet have updated numbers, Ragali said.
As part of the sale of the five homes to National Health Care Associates, National agreed to add $2.6 million to the health insurance fund to cover benefits for employees of those facilities.
Athena still operates 14 skilled nursing facilities in Connecticut, 16 in Massachusetts and five in Rhode Island. . .
Six temporary employment agencies filed lawsuits against Athena in Connecticut, alleging the company failed to pay them more than $142,000 for employees they provided since 2021 to offset staff shortages. Another lawsuit claimed Athena owed nearly $2 million for temporary workers provided by a separate company. And an Iowa-based insurance company filed a federal suit alleging Athena failed to pay more than $6 million in health insurance claims from its employees, an issue that prompted state officials to contact the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate.
A federal judge in Iowa has ruled the case should be tried in state court. The lawsuit is pending in Connecticut, but the plaintiffs have asked the court to issue a direct verdict against Athena because the company has not responded to court filings. A judge has yet to rule on that motion.
Athena was being represented by Hartford-based law firm Murtha Cullina, but in March, the firm dropped out of the case because Athena had not paid the attorneys any money. Athena told the firm “it no longer has the funds” to pay for legal representation in the case, according to court records.
The company has also been cited over problems with staffing and patient safety in multiple states and has faced a wrongful death lawsuit. In February, The CT Mirror reported that Athena owed more than $750,000 in overdue taxes, utility costs and interest on missed payments to municipalities.