A former hospital chain that merged into Community Health Systems Inc. will pay over $260 million to resolve civil claims and criminal charges related to overbilling Medicare and other government health programs.
The Department of Justice Sept. 25 announced a settlement it reached with Health Management Associates LLC, or HMA, a former U.S. hospital chain based in Naples, Fla., over allegations it falsely billed these programs and provided kickbacks to health-care providers.
The DOJ alleged the chain billed the programs for inpatient services that should have been outpatient or “observation” services, paid doctors for patient referrals, and submitted inflated claims ...