Hospital to pay $118 million in kickback scheme

When you visit the doctor, you expect your treatment will be decided solely based on the best care available. But for some patients whose doctors referred them to Adventist Health hospitals, an illegal kickback scheme may have influenced their doctors’ decisions.

The federal government and four states will receive $118.7 million as the result of a legal settlement with the Florida-based hospital chain Adventist Health System, according to a story in Reuters. The settlement is the largest ever in a case involving hospitals paying kickbacks to doctors for referrals, according to a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

The settlement also resolves claims that the health care chain overbilled government healthcare programs. The 2012 lawsuit against Adventist was brought by three former employees, who alleged that the chain’s illegal practices included overpaying doctors, paying unearned bonuses, and allowing overbilling by doctors who referred patients to Aventis’ hospitals.

The bulk of the settlement funds will go to the federal government, with the remainder divided between the states where Adventist operates: Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The former Adventist employees, as whistleblowers who brought the case to the attention of the federal and state governments, may receive between 15-25% of the settlement funds.