Judge OKs Tenet’s Settlement in Suit by Uninsured Patients

A judge has approved Tenet Healthcare Corp.’s proposed settlement of lawsuits brought by uninsured patients who claimed they were overcharged at the company’s 114 hospitals.

Judge Wendell Mortimer of Los Angeles Superior Court approved the settlement Monday, lawyers for the patients said in a statement. Tenet is to refund amounts paid over certain pricing thresholds, and the company will offer uninsured patients the same rates as managed-care patients for four years.

Dallas-based Tenet, the second-largest U.S. hospital chain, said in March that it had agreed to settle the group suits, or class actions, and had set aside $30 million to resolve them.

“We are pleased with the outcome of this case and feel that the settlement is an important step toward fair pricing for all patients,” Steve Berman, a lawyer with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro in Seattle and lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said in the statement.

Tenet didn’t admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

Class actions also are pending against the company and its hospitals in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Plaintiffs in those suits now have to decide whether to join the nationwide settlement or to appeal, Tenet spokesman Steven Campanini said.

Besides the litigation, the company faces government investigations into whether it overcharged Medicare, the health insurance plan for the elderly and disabled.

Separately, the company said Wednesday that it missed a Tuesday deadline for filing second-quarter results with the Securities and Exchange Commission because of a continuing investigation.

KPMG was unable to complete its review of Tenet’s financial report on time because of a probe into new allegations arising from a previously disclosed SEC investigation, the company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday. Tenant said it didn’t know when it would complete the financial report.

Tenet had said July 20 that it might miss the deadline. The company has replaced its senior management since mid-2003, settled lawsuits and sought to restore the confidence of doctors, patients and investors.

Shares of Tenet fell 12 cents to $12.71.