Hospital to pay $5.5M to settle improper Medicaid payments case

NAPLES — NCH Healthcare System, which operates two Collier County hospitals, has agreed to pay the federal government $5.5 million to settle allegations it made donations to local units of government to improperly fund the state’s share of Medicaid payments to NCH.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination or admission of liability, according to hospital officials and a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. The case, the DOJ release states, settles “common law allegations for impermissible Medicaid donations.”