Allina Hospitals & Clinics To Pay $16M to Settle Medicare Fraud Charges

The Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney's Office on Jan. 14 reached a $16 million settlement with Allina Hospitals & Clinics on claims that the Minnesota health system overbilled three government health care programs, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. The agreement settles allegations of Medicare and Medicaid "billing improprieties" at Allina hospitals and clinics that began in 1994. The settlement also included "a few thousand" dollars for a claim that Allina overbilled TriCare and CHAMPUS, two military health care programs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry Wilhelm said that the $16 million figure -- a "civil settlement" -- "represents some form of overpayment. There was no fine." Federal officials had said that Allina overbilled the government for $19 million, while the company had argued that "it owed nothing." Wilhelm said that Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch (D) "initially announced" the settlement in September 2001 when he released a "voluminous audit" of the health system and subsidiary Medica Health Plan. However, "nothing had been filed in court." Wilhelm said, "Allina is a big company, and it took that long to work out the details of the settlement" (Majeski, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1/15).