Sioux City hospital pays $400,000 to settle allegations

Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City agreed this week to pay the government $400,000 to settle allegations of inflating charges for patients' care.

The settlment resolves allegations that Mercy inflated charges for Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program heart patients to obtain additional reimbursement from those federal health care programs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Congress provides the additional payments to provide an incentive for hospitals to treat patients when the cost of care is unusually high.

In the settlement, Mercy denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay the government $400,000 to settle the claims.

The government alleged that between March 1999 and August 2003, Mercy inflated its charges for certain in-patient heart procedures. As a result, Mercy received more from the federal health care programs than it was entitled.

The government also claimed Mercy submitted false and misleading statements involving Medicare and Medicaid cost reports for Oakland Memorial Hospital in Oakland, Neb., in fiscal years 2003 to 2006.