CoxHealth ready to settle government investigation

CoxHealth has set aside $60 million to pay for a settlement related to a three-year federal probe, which alleged overcharging Medicare for dialysis services and paying doctors for services that were never rendered.

According to reports in the Springfield News-Leader and local TV outlets, CoxHealth CEO Bob Bezanson informed employees of the impending settlement in an April 30 e-mail.

“We don’t have a final settlement with the federal government and until we do, we can’t comment on specifics in the negotiations,” CoxHealth Vice President of Corporate Communications Laurie Cunningham said in a prepared statement e-mailed to Springfield Business Journal. “However, that amount is in the range where CoxHealth anticipates we may finally settle.”

The statement goes on to say that the health system has accrued the amount over the last three years in anticipation of a possible settlement. “When the actual settlement is signed, we will be able to speak more to the amount, other terms of agreement, and how the final terms came about.”

The investigation was spurred in part by allegations of two former CoxHealth employees, who claim they were terminated because of their whistle-blowing activities related to the billing practices.

That suit was put on hold during the federal investigation into the health system’s billing practices because of the possibility that the civil suit might interfere with the work being done by the U.S. District Attorney’s office.

The discovery phase of the civil suit involving former CoxHealth employees Roger Cochran and Dennis Morris, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, has resumed, according to court documents.

CoxHealth is now awaiting final word from the U.S. Attorney Office regarding the actual settlement amount in the federal investigation, but the health system reiterated that the federal case and the civil suit are not related.

“The employment terminations of Roger Cochran and Dennis Morris, and the ongoing cooperation of CoxHealth in a continuing investigation by the federal government, are completely separate and unrelated issues,” CoxHealth’s statement said.