Coast Plaza Doctors Hospital Announces Medicare Settlement Agreement.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2004

Coast Plaza Doctors Hospital announced today that it has settled a dispute with the federal government regarding Medicare reimbursement to the hospital.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and look forward to continuing our mission of providing quality health care services to the community in the coming years," said Craig Garner, Coast Plaza CEO.

The settlement closes an examination by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the hospital's Medicare cost reporting between 1994 and 1999. As a result of its examination, OIG alleged that some of the costs incurred by the hospital should not have been charged to the Medicare program.

"The Medicare program is extraordinarily complex and constantly changing," Garner noted. "As soon as we were informed of the possible errors in our reporting, we instituted changes within the hospital as the investigation continued to ensure that we were in compliance and continue to be in compliance with Medicare reporting regulations."

Although Coast Plaza admits no liability in the case on the part of the hospital, Coast Plaza has agreed under the Settlement Agreement to pay the federal government $4.1 million. Garner noted that the government alleged only a fraction of that amount as losses. However, under current law, if the government had prevailed at trial Coast plaza could have been liable for triple the government's losses plus civil penalties.

"The extraordinary intricacy of Medicare reporting requirements continues to create confusion regarding the interpretation of the law," said Lloyd Bookman, an attorney with Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, Inc., which represented Coast Plaza in this case. "Coast Plaza is one of many of the nation's top hospitals to face this type of investigation. It is unavoidable given the complex nature of Medicare."

Coast Plaza Doctors Hospital is a 123-bed acute care facility, which has been providing acute and emergency health care to the City of Norwalk, California and its surrounding communities since 1957.

Hooper, Lundy & Bookman is the largest law practice in the country dedicated solely to the representation of health care providers. With offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and clients in 46 states, the firm provides a full spectrum of services including business transactions; provider reimbursement; operational issues; fraud and abuse compliance and defense; and litigation, arbitration and mediation services.