Tenet to pay $43M to settle Medicare overbilling claims

The settlement ends an investigation into allegations the Dallas-based hospital operator overbilled Medicare for treating patients at certain inpatient rehabilitation centers.

The Wall Street Journal: Tenet Healthcare To Pay $42.75 Million To Settle Allegations
Tenet Healthcare Corp. will pay $42.75 million to settle allegations that it overcharged the federal Medicare program, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The deal resolves civil allegations under the False Claims Act that Tenet overbilled for services provided at various inpatient rehabilitation facilities (Kendall, 4/10).

Reuters: Tenet To Pay Almost $43 Million To Settle False Claims
Tenet Healthcare Corp has agreed to pay almost $43 million to settle allegations that it overbilled the federal Medicare health care program for treating patients at certain rehabilitation facilities, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. The company was accused of improperly billing Medicare between May 2005 and December 2007 for treating people at inpatient rehabilitation facilities when they did not qualify for such an admission, the Justice Department said (4/10).

The Associated Press: Tenet Pays $43M To Settle Medicare Billing Inquiry
Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. has agreed to pay $42.8 million to resolve allegations it overbilled Medicare for the treatment of patients who needed intense inpatient rehabilitation. The Dallas company said Tuesday that the settlement resolves inquiries by the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia (4/10).

Modern Healthcare: Tenet To Pay $43 Million In Medicare Fraud Settlement
Tenet Healthcare Corp. has agreed to pay a record $43 million to the U.S. Justice Department to settle allegations that from 2005 to 2007, its hospitals overcharged Medicare by admitting patients who did not qualify for costly inpatient rehabilitation services. HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson said in a statement that the Dallas-based for-profit hospital operator disclosed the overbillings to the federal government as was required under a previous corporate integrity agreement between HHS and Tenet (Carlson, 4/10).