Hospital owes government $1.4 million

Bloomington Hospital is one of nine hospitals in the U.S. that must pay a settlement fee in false medical care claims related to kyphoplasty surgery, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Bloomington Hospital owes $1,443,848 to the United States.

This settlement, as well the other eight hospitals’ settlements, are implemented in order to resolve allegations that the hospitals had Medicare spend more money than necessary between 2000 and 2008 on kyphoplasty, a minimally invasive type of surgery that treats certain spinal structures that are often a result of osteoporosis.

The procedure can usually be performed safely as a less-costly outpatient procedure, which is why the government remains persistent that the hospitals performed the procedure on an in-patient basis in order to increase their Medicare billings.

“These hospitals put profits ahead of sound medical judgment," said Tony West, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, in a Department of Justice: Office of Public Affairs’ press release. "The Justice Department is committed to protecting Medicare funds from waste and abuse."

The settling facilities and the amount being paid by each hospital, aside from Bloomington Hospital, are Ball Memorial Hospital, Muncie, Ind. ($1,995,431); Bethesda Memorial Hospital, Boynton Beach, Fla. ($356,079); Genesys Regional Medical Center, Grand Blanc, Mich. ($931,742); Huntsville Hospital, The Health Care Authority of the City of Huntsville, Huntsville, Ala. ($1,992,756); Palmetto Health: Palmetto Health Baptist Hospital, Columbia, S.C. ($1,861,083.14); St. Elizabeth Medical Center, Utica, N.Y. ($195,976); St. Mary’s of Michigan Hospital, Saginaw, Mich. ($260,065.21); and United Hospital, St. Paul, Minn. ($428,656).

 ---Alyssa Goldman