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| | Tenet’s Got Game By Robert Warne - December 9, 2002As the lights go out on California’s energy crisis, they seem to now be beaming brightly on a whole new array of fiscal predicaments, which includes the State’s workers’ compensation system.
Hitting on one aspect of why workers’ compensation costs are through the roof, Peter Gorman, vice president at Alliance of American Insurers, told the San Francisco Chronicle that workers' comp offers more windows of opportunity for hospitals and doctors to run up large bills.
The giant currently receiving the most attention is Tenet Healthcare Corp. for gaming the State’s workers’ compensation system much like how energy providers gamed the State’s public utility system.
As a result of two federal investigations, Tenet released data Dec. 6 that compared its net receipts to other hospitals. The records revealed that Tenet charged twice as much as other California hospitals for workers' compensation cases in 2000.
The data released by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) showed that Tenet’s median bill for workers’ compensation claims that required hospitalization was $33,968 in contrast to the median of $16, 926 for non-Tenet hospitals.
The greatest disparity between workers’ compensation bills occurred in Shasta and Stanislaus Counties. The median charge in Tenet’s Redding facility was $59,724 compared to $19,724 at other hospitals in the county. And Tenet’s median bill in its Modesto hospital was $62,815 versus the other hospitals' $18,696.
According to the Chrinocle, Tenet spokesman, Steve Campanini said, "I'm not contesting the data because it's OSHPD data. We're contesting the methodology. This does more harm than good because it's generating uncertainty and raising questions about our hospitals that shouldn't be raised. It's creating confusion among patients."
Gorman explained to the Chronicle that, "If you're seeing extraordinary charges from Tenet in workers' comp, it's because they figured out how to game the system." |