A 2009 False Claims Act complaint accused Tenet of hospital fraud by paying kickbacks to doctors based on referrals. As the result, the complaint contends they received sub-market rental rates and free build-outs for their offices, in violation of Stark and anti-kickback statutes. Involving hospitals in Florida California, Texas, Tennessee and Georgia, Tenet paid a modest $5 million in December 2013 in a largely unpublicized settlement. This, on the heels of a settlement announced in April 2012, where Tenet Healthcare paid $42.75 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-kickback Statute by overbilling Medicare at 25 of its rehabilitation units. It operates 77 hospitals nationwide.
But that is not th end of the store. Tenet is again under investigation based on recent allegations that have surfaced involving some if its hospitals in Georgia and South Carolina. Once again, Tenet hospitals are accused of paying kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals. The Government announced in February 2014 that it was intervening in the case, this time involving kickbacks that were allegedly paid to obstetrics clinics in return for referral of patients for labor and delivery.
According to SEC 2013 filings by Tenet, the company has collected a total of $2.3 billion in Medicare and $975 million in Medicaid net revenues.