Department of Justice Seal


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CIV

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1998 (202) 616-2765

TDD (202) 514-1888

ILLINOIS HOSPITAL PAYS U.S. $228,500 TO SETTLE MEDICARE DISPUTE




WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An Illinois hospital has paid the United States $228,500 to settle allegations it failed to refund overpayments it received from Medicare back to the federal health care program, the Department of Justice announced today.

Attorney General Frank W. Hunger of the Civil Division and U.S. Attorney W. Charles Grace of Fairview Heights, Illinois, said the settlement resolves certain allegations brought against St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital of Effingham, Illinois, in a qui tam suit filed in U.S. District Court in Fairview Heights.

The suit alleged that St. Anthony's failed to refund Medicare overpayments for patients treated at the Hospital. According to the complaint filed in the action, St. Anthony's did not report the overpayments to Medicare as required by the program rules.

In a separate agreement, St. Anthony's and the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services signed a "Corporate Integrity Agreement," under which St. Anthony's agreed to take measures to ensure compliance with applicable laws and Medicare rules and regulations in the future.

The case (United States of America ex rel. Dirk Richmond v. St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital, No. 95-4160, S.D. Ill.) was filed by Dirk Richmond, who received $45,700 of the recovery.

The Civil Division and U.S. Attorney's office in Fairview Heights conducted the case with the assistance of the Fairview Heights office of the Inspector General of HHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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