Hospitals Pay Millions in Medicare Settlement

By: Associated Press

Posted: Tue 12:08 PM, Jan 04, 2011

Seven hospitals located throughout the southern U.S. have agreed to pay a total of $6.3 million in a settlement after allegations they were overcharging for osteoporosis procedures.

Department of Justice officials said Tuesday hospitals in Florida, Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama were performing a procedure to treat spinal fractures on an inpatient basis during an eight-year period starting from 2000 in order to overcharge Medicare for the procedures. The procedure can be safely performed on an outpatient basis, which is cheaper.

In 2008, Medtronic Spine LLC paid $75 million to resolve allegations they were also performing the same procedure as inpatient.

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