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Sutter Health to pay $45M for kickbacks, overbilling

Separately, Sutter has agreed to pay more than $15 million to resolve other violations, including double-billing Medicare.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2019, file photo, an American flag flutters in the breeze outside of the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif. Sutter Health, one of California's largest hospital systems, has reached an agreement to settle a massive class-action lawsuit over allegations that it abused its market power to snuff out competition and overcharge patients for medical bills, a spokeswoman for California's attorney general said Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif — (AP) -- The Department of Justice says Sutter Health has agreed to pay more than $45 million to settle a lawsuit by the federal government that it paid doctors in exchange for patient referrals and submitted Medicare claims that resulted from those referrals.

The department made the announced Friday, a day after the Sacramento Bee reported Sutter Health had agreed to pay more than $30 million to settle a 2014 secret lawsuit filed by the federal government and a whistleblower.

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The Department says one of Sutter’s hospitals, Sutter Memorial Center Sacramento, agreed to pay $30.5 million to settle allegations that it paid a group of Sacramento surgeons in exchange for the surgeons referring patients to the hospital.

Separately, Sutter has agreed to pay more than $15 million to resolve other violations, including double-billing Medicare.

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WATCH MORE: Sutter Health settles class-action lawsuit | FYI