Tuomey Agrees to Pay $72.4 Million, Join Multi-Hospital System in Settlement – On October 16, 2015, Tuomey Healthcare System announced it had entered into a $72.4 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve a $237 million False Claims Act and Stark Law judgment entered against the hospital in October 2013.  As part of the settlement agreement, Tuomey announced that it would be acquired by Palmetto Health, a multi-hospital system in South Carolina, no later than December 31, 2015.  (For prior Health Headlines discussions of the history of the claims against Tuomey and the court decisions that led to the $237 million judgment, please see below.)  This settlement appears to mirror a larger trend of hospitals entering into final settlement agreements in False Claims Act and Stark Law cases where the provider agrees to settle for substantially less than the judgment and is also acquired by a larger healthcare system.  The DOJ press release on the settlement is available here, and a copy of the settlement agreement is available here.

Reporter, Christopher Kenny, Washington, D.C., +1 202 626 9253, ckenny@kslaw.com.