ST. PAUL, Minn., May 21 (UPI) -- Three Minnesota hospitals will settle a whistleblower lawsuit that alleges the HealthEast sites defrauded Medicare by overcharging for surgical procedures.
The hospitals in the St. Paul, Minn., area will pay a $2.28 million to the federal government to settle the Medicare fraud lawsuit filed by whistleblowers Craig Patrick and Chuck Bates, attorneys for the whistleblowers said in a news release Thursday.
The lawsuit filed by the former Kyphon Inc. workers alleges an unspecified number of hospitals nationwide overcharge Medicare for a kyphoplasty procedure. The surgical procedure is used in the treatment of spinal fractures.
Attorney Matthew Smith alleged the overcharges were the result of hospitals tabbing the typical outpatient procedure as an inpatient surgery.
"By claiming these were inpatient procedures, hospitals could seek greater reimbursement from Medicare and make much larger profits on kyphoplasty," Smith alleged.
The HealthEast Care System reportedly self-audited its sites amid the allegations and found instances of overbilling at HealthEast St. Joseph's Hospital, HealthEast St. John's Hospital and HealthEast Woodwinds Hospital.
