Stanley and Judith Dicker own and operate Hudson Valley Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center in Highland and the Hillside Manor Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center in Queens.

Over five years, the two homes overbilled Medicaid roughly $9 million, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said.

The state's investigatory Medicaid Fraud Control Unit determined that the Dickers withdrew substantial amounts as "management fees" from their facilities.

Although these fees were deemed nonreimbursable administrative expenses, a percentage of them was erroneously factored into rates for therapists, nurses and aides associated with the couple's long-term home health care programs.

As a result, rates were improperly raised by $13 to $26 per visit.

"Once the problem was brought to the attention of the providers, they agreed to reimburse the state," Spitzer said in a recent news release.

"There was no wrongdoing alleged," said Lonnie Soury, a spokesman for the couple. "We rectified the mistake. " He said it will take several years to repay the money.

The Queens facility will repay roughly $9 million while the Highland facility will repay the state $2 million.