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During 2007, HCA, through its subsidiaries Parkridge and HCA Physician Services (HCAPS), entered into a series of financial transactions with a physician group, Diagnostic Associates of Chattanooga, through which it provided financial benefits intended to induce the physician members of Diagnostic to refer patients to HCA facilities. The financial benefits included lease of office space from Diagnostic at a rental rate well in excess of fair market value to meet the mortgage obligations of the Diagnostic members and release of Diagnostic members from a separate lease obligation. These financial arrangements violated the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute – laws designed to protect patients as well as the integrity of government-funded health care benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and TennCare.
As U.S. Attorney Bill Killian explained, “Physicians should make decisions regarding referrals to health care facilities based on what is in the best interest of patients without being induced by payments from hospitals competing for their business.”
Federal law prohibits hospitals from submitting claims to government-funded health care benefit programs for inpatient and outpatient hospital services referred, ordered, or arranged for by physicians who have prohibited financial arrangements with those hospitals.
"We will not allow hospitals to provide financial incentives to induce physicians to steer patients their way," said Derrick L. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, HHS-OIG in Atlanta. "These arrangements can corrupt medical decision-making and may result in unnecessary diagnostic testing and hospital admissions."
During the period from 2007 through 2011, HCA through Parkridge, submitted or caused to be submitted claims to Medicare, TRICARE, and TennCare/Medicaid for inpatient and outpatient hospital services referred, ordered or arranged for by the Diagnostic physician members who benefitted from the prohibited financial arrangements between HCA Diagnostic. Medicare and the other health care benefit programs paid the claims for those hospital services, and this settlement addresses the financial harm to the Medicare and Medicaid trust funds, TriCare and TennCare for the moneys paid out of those funds which HCA improperly claimed and received during that time period. Under the False Claims Act, a recipient of such funds may be liable for as much as three times the amount paid by the government program plus civil penalties.
The determination of the losses suffered by the government in a False Claims Act case based on violations of the Stark law depends largely upon the number of physicians who benefitted from the financial arrangements with the hospital, the number of patients referred by those physicians to the hospital, and the amount paid by the government to the hospital for claims submitted for all those patients. The False Claims Act further provides for trebling of any losses and penalties of between $5,500-$11,000 per claim.
“Today's settlement is the third since 2005 involving violations by hospitals in Chattanooga of the Ethics in Patient Referrals and False Claims Acts and reflects the Justice Department's continued determination to enforce these laws to protect both patients and the Medicare and Medicaid trust funds,” said U.S. Attorney Killian. Mr. Killian further noted that this settlement resulted from a comprehensive investigation which began as a result of a qui tam or whistleblower complaint filed in 2008. After an administrative subpoena was served on HCA subsidiaries in July 2009, HCA produced documents to the United States and made its personnel available for interviews.
"The Defense Criminal Investigative Service is committed to ensuring that TRICARE, the U.S. military health care program, continues to provide safe and superior medical care to America's Warfighters and their families." said John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service- Southeast Field Office. "The successful resolution of this case demonstrates the effectiveness of joint investigations to combat health care fraud and preserve the integrity of this vital program."
Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper noted: "We are proud to have worked closely with our federal partners to bring this case to resolution. Combating fraud is essential to the strength and integrity of the TennCare program and is a high priority of this office."
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Last Update on May 21, 2013 17:06 GMT
JPMORGAN-ANNUAL MEETING
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Shareholders at JPMorgan Chase will let Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO, keep both his jobs.
At the bank's annual meeting, 32 percent of shareholders voted for a measure that would have required the bank to split the roles. Had the measure succeeded, Dimon would have had to relinquish the role of chairman.
Shareholder groups lobbying for the split gained momentum from last year's surprise $6 billion trading loss, which tarnished the reputation of both JPMorgan Chase & Co. and CEO Dimon. The bank and Dimon had argued that letting Dimon keep both jobs was the most effective form of leadership.
APPLE-UNTAXED PROFITS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Apple's CEO is disputing assertions by a Senate panel that the company avoids billions of dollars in U.S. taxes by shifting profits to foreign affiliates.
Tim Cook testified at a hearing Tuesday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which released a damning report Monday on Apple's tax practices.
"We pay all the taxes we owe -- every single dollar," Cook said. "We don't depend on tax gimmicks."
Cook, who is more accustomed to commanding a stage in front of investors and techies than facing a congressional committee, took a defensive tone with his opening statement. He punched out words when stressing the 600,000 jobs that the company supports and noting that Apple is the nation's largest corporate taxpayer. Cook said he advocates an overhaul of the U.S. tax code.
IRS-LEW
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups was "unacceptable and inexcusable" and he has directed the agency's acting director to hold people accountable.
Lew told the Senate Banking Committee that he has also asked acting director Daniel Werfel to fix any flaws in management of the IRS to make sure there is no recurrence of the problems.
An inspector general's report released May 15 found that IRS employees had inappropriately targeted conservative political groups.
Lew says he first learned about the inspector general's investigation in March but that he was unaware of the findings until they became public this month.
EARNS-HOME DEPOT
ATLANTA (AP) -- Even though the weather was poor, Home Depot posted an 18 percent increase in its net income for the first quarter thanks to the ongoing housing recovery.
The world's biggest home improvement chain also boosted its full-year earnings and revenue forecasts Tuesday, citing its year-to-date performance and outlook for the rest of the year.
For the three months ended May 5, Home Depot Inc. earned $1.23 billion, or 83 cents per share. That's up from $1.04 billion, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts predicted earnings of 76 cents per share.
Revenue for the Atlanta company rose 7 percent to $19.12 billion from $17.81 billion. Wall Street expected $18.62 billion.
Revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 4.3 percent.
EARNS-BEST BUY
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Best Buy Co. is reporting a loss in its fiscal first quarter as it sold its stake in Best Buy Europe and works on a turnaround plan that includes cutting costs and closing some stores.
The electronics retailer says net loss for the three months ended May 4 after paying preferred dividends totaled $81 million, or 24 cents per share. That compares with net income of $158 million, or 46 cents per share, last year.
Excluding restructuring costs and costs related to selling its stake in Best Buy Europe, net income from continuing operations totaled 32 cents per share. Analysts expected 24 cents per share.
Revenue fell nearly 10 percent to $9.38 billion, short of expectations of $10.67 billion.
Best Buy's stock fell 3.4 percent to $25.90 in premarket trading.
SPRINT-CLEARWIRE
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. has raised its buyout offer for the stake in Clearwire it does not already own by 14 percent.
Sprint said Tuesday that it is offering $3.40 per share for Clearwire Corp. Its previous offer, from December, was for $2.97 per share for the wireless data operator.
Sprint said this is its best and final offer. A vote on the previous offer had been scheduled for Tuesday, but Clearwire said it is postponing it until Thursday, May 30.
Clearwire's main asset is its wireless spectrum -- space on the airwaves -- that could be used to provide high data download speeds. Those are a crucial competitive factor in today's wireless industry. But Clearwire's frequencies are difficult to use. They require many cell towers to cover an area, and the signals don't penetrate well into buildings.
Sprint is Clearwire's only major wholesale customer, and uses its network to provide "Sprint 4G" service.
SPRINT-DISH NETWORK
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. says it can now let Dish Network Corp. see its books and talk with Dish to see whether its competing offer to buy Sprint is better than its current deal with Japan's SoftBank.
The companies said late Thursday that SoftBank had waived provisions of its deal with Sprint that will allow Sprint to talk with Dish.
SoftBank currently has a $20.1 billion deal with Sprint to buy 70 percent of the company. Dish last month offered $25.5 billion for the whole company.
Softbank says it brings expertise and cash to Sprint. It says it still wants to close its deal by July 1.
Many Wall Street analysts view Dish's bid as superior but risky, as it will result in a combined company with high debt.
GENERAL MOTORS-NEW JOBS
DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors says it will invest $44.5 million at a Lansing, Mich., factory, creating 200 new jobs.
The automaker says it will build a 400,000-square-foot building next to the Lansing Grand River plant to assemble parts and put them in the right order for manufacturing.
The factory already employs more than 1,500 hourly and salaried workers who make the Cadillac ATS and CTS luxury sports sedans. It also will make the next generation Chevrolet Camaro in 2015.
GM says the new logistics center will make the factory more efficient and cut transportation costs. The building is expected to open by the end of next year.
The company says it's not sure yet how many new workers will be hired and how many would be recalled from layoffs.
ENERGY SECRETARY
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Physicist Ernest Moniz has been sworn in as the nation's new energy secretary.
The 68-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor took the oath of office Tuesday at the Energy Department. He replaces Steven Chu, who served as energy secretary in President Barack Obama's first term. Moniz served as an energy undersecretary in the Clinton administration.
Moniz said on Twitter that he is honored to be back at the Energy Department, adding that he is "looking forward to hitting the ground running."
He faces an array of challenges, including whether to approve a host of applications to export liquefied natural gas. Moniz has says he'll promote renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power, along with traditional fuels such as oil and coal.
ESPN-LAYOFFS
NEW YORK (AP) -- ESPN says that it is cutting its workforce.
The sports media giant said in a statement Tuesday: "We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs." The company would not say how many jobs are being eliminated, but they include unfilled positions.
ESPN has about 7,000 employees worldwide, with about 4,000 at its headquarters in Bristol, Conn. The vast majority work behind the scenes.
This is the latest in a series of recent job cuts at several Disney divisions. ESPN specifically has seen costs increase with skyrocketing prices for the broadcasting rights to live sports.
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