California Hospitals Pay $16.5 Million for Participating in Patient Recruiting Scheme

A California hospital group has agreed to pay $16.5 million to settle allegations that three of its hospitals participated in a scheme to defraud the federal healthcare programs, states an August 24, 2012, U.S. Department of Justice press release. According to the press release, the Los Angeles-based hospitals engaged in a scheme in which they paid recruiters to deliver homeless Medicare or Medi-Cal beneficiaries by ambulance from the “Skid Row” area to the hospitals for treatment that was often medically unnecessary.