Tenet Hospitals To Pay $514M To Settle Kickback Scheme Involving Pregnant Undocumented Women

Tenet Healthcare Corporation and two of its Atlanta-area subsidiaries have agreed to pay over $513 million to resolve criminal and civil claims accusing the hospitals of paying kickbacks in exchange for referrals of pregnant, undocumented Medicaid patients. The two Tenet subsidiaries also agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government.

According to the criminal complaint, Tenet hospitals paid kickbacks to prenatal care clinics to refer pregnant, undocumented Hispanic women to Tenet facilities, which would in turn bill Medicaid for deliveries. As part of the alleged scheme, the women were told that Medicaid would only pay for childbirth and newborn care if they delivered at Tenet hospitals. Such illegal financial relationships between hospitals and referral sources “exploit vulnerable populations and threaten to drive up the cost of healthcare for everyone,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer in a press release issued by the Department of Justice.

The case was filed under the federal and Georgia False Claims Acts (FCA). The law allows whistleblowers to file suit for false claims against the government entities and to share in any recovery. The whistleblower’s share in this case is over $84 million.