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Bay Medical to Share Settlement: Hospital Slated to Get $296,700 From Insurer Accused of Inflating Charges

Posted on: Monday, 27 February 2006, 15:01 CST

By Faith Ford, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Feb. 27--PANAMA CITY -- Bay Medical Center is one of 17 Florida hospitals getting a chunk of a multimillion-dollar settlement from a lawsuit against Tenet Health Systems, the nation's second largest for-profit hospital chain.

Chief Financial Officer Dan Morgan said the hospital is slated to receive $296,700. The money will be deposited in a general fund, Morgan said. Holmes County Hospital Corporation in Bonifay also is slated to receive part of the settlement, which was announced last week by Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist. Authorities accused Tenet Health Systems of inflating hospital charges in 2000 and 2003 to gain higher Medicare reimbursements. Under the Medicare program, hospitals are paid on a per case rate. When a patient's charges exceed what is allowable under Medicare, hospitals can access a program called the Outlier Fund. The hospital chain, which operates 15 hospitals in Florida, was raising charges at 300 or 400 percent each year, Morgan said.

"What that basically did," Morgan said, "was it got a lot of their patients to get Outlier payments. ... Hospitals who were not playing games like Tenet got less money than they should have from the Outlier program."

Tenet is contributing almost $6 million to be divided between the 17 public hospitals listed in the suit. The amount received by each hospital is based on the amount of indigent care and costly procedures they provided. Tenet also is paying the state about $1 million for investigation costs.

The hospital chain changed its billing practices in 2003 and has restructured management.

Other hospitals and boards listed in the settlement include: Bert Fish Medical Center Inc. in New Smyrna Beach; Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach; Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami; North Brevard County Hospital District in Titusville; North Broward Hospital District in Fort Lauderdale; Sarasota County Public Hospital District; South Broward Hospital District in Hollywood; West Orange Healthcare District in Ocoee; Hendry County Hospital Authority in Clewiston; Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers; and Cape Coral Memorial Hospital.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The News Herald

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