User:Thirteenth Florida/Proposed replacement for HCA case

In the mid-1990s, the Department of Health and Human Services increased its enforcement of Medicare regulations and compliance, increasing its allocation of agents to such cases from 100 in 1992 to 375 by the firt half of 1998. Prominent targets of federal investigations included Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University hospitals, and Columbia/HCA.

Documents from Columbia/HCA facilities were seized by federal agents in March 1997, forming the basis of an investigation into Columbia/HCA for unnecessary lab tests, falsifiying reports to increase Medicare reimbursements, among other violations. In 2001, HCA reached a plea agreement with the U.S. government that avoided criminal charges against the company and included $95 million in fines. In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the U.S. government $631 million, plus interest, and pay $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims. In all, civil law suits cost HCA more than $1.7 billion to settle, including payments of more than $500 million paid in 2003 to two whistleblowers, under controversial qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. In 2000, following the settlement, Columbia/HCA reverted to using the name HCA.

Rick Scott was never charged with any wrongdoing. According to the Tampa Tribune, Scott wanted to fight the government's charges, but the board disagreed and he was forced out. Scott related to the newspaper, "My belief when I was there was that if we did something wrong, then we would live up to any of our mistakes. If we didn't do something wrong, we should not settle things." According to a website associated with the Rick Scott campaign, the board of directors approved a severance package and a 10-year consulting contract.