As part of a civil settlement, four providers who also were investors in Passport Health Plan will repay $26.4 million to the provider-sponsored HMO, based in Louisville, Ky., according to a news release from Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway.
The four Passport investor-members will each pay the plan back as restitution for alleged improper and illegal cash transfers received in 2008, 2009 and 2010. An investigation found the investor-members transferred a total of $30.5 million from Passport to their bank accounts because "they knew Passport would not be granted a rate increase if this $30.5 million was accounted for on its books," according to the release.
By statute, non-profit corporations cannot pay a dividend or any part of the income of a corporation to its members. Passport is a non-profit organization that serves Medicaid patients and is a federal-state healthcare program for the poor. The following providers, each based in Louisville, will repay the following to Passport:
University Physicians Associates: $14.38 million.
Norton Hospital: $4 million.
Jewish and St. Mary's Healthcare: $4 million.
University Medical Center: $4 million.
These payments must begin within 10 days of today's announcement, and must be complete on or before Jan. 1, 2016.
The settlement does not require a $2.6 million repayment from a University Physician Associations, because it used the money it received to provide healthcare to its target patients.
Read the news release from Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway on Passport.
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The four Passport investor-members will each pay the plan back as restitution for alleged improper and illegal cash transfers received in 2008, 2009 and 2010. An investigation found the investor-members transferred a total of $30.5 million from Passport to their bank accounts because "they knew Passport would not be granted a rate increase if this $30.5 million was accounted for on its books," according to the release.
By statute, non-profit corporations cannot pay a dividend or any part of the income of a corporation to its members. Passport is a non-profit organization that serves Medicaid patients and is a federal-state healthcare program for the poor. The following providers, each based in Louisville, will repay the following to Passport:
University Physicians Associates: $14.38 million.
Norton Hospital: $4 million.
Jewish and St. Mary's Healthcare: $4 million.
University Medical Center: $4 million.
These payments must begin within 10 days of today's announcement, and must be complete on or before Jan. 1, 2016.
The settlement does not require a $2.6 million repayment from a University Physician Associations, because it used the money it received to provide healthcare to its target patients.
Read the news release from Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway on Passport.
Related Articles on Settlements in Healthcare:
New Milford Hospital, Spine Surgeon Settle $5.2M Malpractice Suit
UCLA Health System Settles Potential HIPAA Violations for $865K
New Hampshire's Exeter Hospital Settles Charges of Retaliation Against Whistleblower