February 05, 2008
The buyer of Bayonne Medical Center will pay $2.5 million to settle allegations of Medicare fraud, the U.S. Dept. of Justice announced on February 4, 2008
The hospital is currently in bankruptcy and its buyer, IJKG, LLC, entered into the settlement.
The False Claims Act suit, which originated as a whistleblower action, alleged that the hospital improperly increased charges to Medicare in order to receive supplemental reimbursement, called outlier payments. These enhanced payments are available to providers in cases where the cost of care is unusually high.