the KING of medicare fraud
In 1997, the company was part of a fraud investigation initiated by a number of governmental departments in the United States. Later that year, Rick Scott resigned as chairman. He later became the 45th and current Governor of Florida. The case was settled in 2002 at a reported cost of $2 billion to HCA. This made it the largest fraud settlement in US history.
On March 19, 1997, investigators from the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services served search warrants at Columbia/HCA facilities in El Paso and on dozens of doctors with suspected ties to the company.[9] Following the raids, the Columbia/HCA board of directors forced Rick Scott to resign as chairman and CEO.[10] He was paid a settlement of $9.88 million and left with 10 million shares of stock worth over $350 million, mostly from his initial investment.[11][12] In 1999, Columbia/HCA changed its name back to HCA, Inc. HCA also admitted fraudulently billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. They filed false cost reports, fraudulently billing Medicare for home health care workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to doctors to refer patients. In addition, they gave doctors "loans" never intended to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.[13][14]
After Scott stepped down, Frist Jr. returned as chairman and CEO. He called on longtime friend and colleague Jack O. Bovender, Jr. to help him turn the company around. Frist and Bovender, who became CEO in 2001, pulled off what Fortune magazine called a remarkable corporate rescue.[15] In settlements reached in 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to 14 felonies. They admitted systematically overcharging the government by claiming marketing costs as reimbursable, striking illegal deals with home care agencies, and filing false data about use of hospital space.
In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the U.S. government $631 million, plus interest, and pay $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims.[16] In all, civil lawsuits cost HCA more than $2 billion to settle, by far the largest fraud settlement in US history.[17] The name subsequently reverted to "Hospital Corporation of America." HCA abandoned the use of its name in its home market and instead promotes its Nashville hospitals under the TriStar brand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_Corporation_of_America
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