Settlement Agreement between DOJ and Covenant Medical Center
The Settlement Agreement between the Department of Justice and Covenant Medical Center of Waterloo, Iowa is now available. On August 25, 2009, DOJ announced Covenant agreed to pay the United States $4.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. The government accused Covenant of submitting false claims to Medicare by having financial relationships with five physicians that violated the Stark Law. The government alleged that Covenant violated the Stark Law by paying commercially unreasonable compensation, far above market value, to five employed physicians. According to the government, these physicians were among the highest paid hospital-employed physicians not just in Iowa, but in the entire United States.
In the Settlement Agreement, the government claimed Covenant paid compensation to five physician employees that exceeded the fair market value of the services provided by those physicians. Covenant denied the allegations of wrongful conduct and claimed the compensation paid was consistent with the fair market value of the services provided by the physicians. The Settlement Agreement did not have any other details concerning the compensation.
The Settlement Agreement is here www.szdhealthlawscan.com/uploads/file/Settlement Agreement (H1627730).PDF
DISCLAIMER: Although we wish to hear from you, information exchanged in this blog does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not post any information that you consider to be personal or confidentiaL. If you wish for us to consider representing you, please obtain contact information from the "About" page of this blog or go to the firm's Web site at www.szd.com.
One of our lawyers will be happy to discuss the possibility of representation with you.