Covenant Health, doctors paying $69 million for Medicare kickback scheme

Covenant Health System, which operates more than 20 health care facilities in Michigan, and two doctors have agreed to pay more than $69 million to settle claims by federal and state authorities that doctors provided referrals to Covenant in exchange for kickbacks, Reuters reports. The settlements, announced on March 29 by Eastern District of Michigan U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison, stem from a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2012. Authorities said that Covenant billed federal health insurance programs like Medicare for services referred by doctors who had improper financial relationships with the company.