Tenet Healthcare has agreed to pay $10 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a suit alleging Medicare fraud. The SEC filed suit in 2002 against Tenet and four of its former officers, contending that the hospital operator had deliberately miscoded Medicare inpatient and outpatient charges as outliers. Coming up with the $10 million should be no problem for Tenet, which says that it has already set aside enough money to cover the settlement.The SEC agreement is actually a small settlement when compared to its deal with the Department of Justice; Tenet agreed last year to pay more than $700 million and waive another $175 million in Medicare payments to satisfy that agency. Executives at Tenet say has become a "new company" since the charges were filed, having made large changes in operations, financial management and compliance.
To get more information on the settlement:
- read this United Press International article