Tenet Healthcare Corporation agreed yesterday to pay $7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Florida attorney general alleging that the company had falsely inflated its hospitals’ charges from 2000 to 2003 to obtain funds from Medicare’s Outlier Fund. Under the settlement, Tenet will contribute close to $6 million that will be disbursed to 13 public hospitals and will pay the state approximately $1 million to cover costs of the investigation. Tenet restructured its management team in November 2002 and changed its Medicare billing practices in January 2003. The settlement also brings to a close an investigation of Medicaid psychiatric billings at a Tenet hospital in South Florida.
