Tenet Healthcare To Pay $514 Mln Over Criminal Charges, Civil Claims

(RTTNews) - U.S. hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corp., and two of its Atlanta-area subsidiaries will pay over $513 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. The charges are related to a scheme to defraud the United States and to pay kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals.

In its statement, Tenet said it will make settlement payments of approximately $514 million and pay approximately $3 million of related fees and expenses to resolve the Clinica de la Mama criminal investigation and civil litigation, which involved referral source arrangements at three of Tenet's former hospitals and one current hospital.

In addition, two Tenet units, Atlanta Medical Center Inc. and North Fulton Medical Center Inc. in Georgia, have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and defraud the United States. The plea agreements remain subject to acceptance by the court. Tenet completed the divestiture of both facilities on March 31, 2016, and the subsidiaries currently have no operating assets.

According to U.S. Attorney John Horn, "Tenet cheated the Medicaid system by paying bribes and kickbacks to a pre-natal clinic to unlawfully refer over 20,000 Medicaid patients to the hospitals."

In August, Tenet had disclosed that it had reached an agreement in principle on the matter.

The settlement was reached with the DOJ, the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia, and the State Attorneys General for Georgia and South Carolina.

In the civil settlement, Tenet agreed to pay $368 million to the federal government, the state of Georgia and the state of South Carolina to resolve claims.

The federal share of the civil settlement is $244.23 million, the state of Georgia will recover $122.88 million and the state of South Carolina will recover $892,125. Ralph Williams, a Georgia resident who filed a whistle blower suit against the company, will receive $84.43 million of the civil settlement.