Mike Sarian, founder and majority owner of multiple hospital companies spanning more than a dozen hospitals across several states, is facing a widening series of lawsuits alleging he diverted millions of dollars from hospital operating accounts, shifted funds among facilities…
Legal & Regulatory Issues
The Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge from New York healthcare workers who lost their jobs after the state stripped religious exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, leaving in place a lower-court ruling against them. The case, Doe v.…
Patrick Alan Bucknum, 55, former CEO of Community Clinic Network in Wenatchee, Wash., pleaded guilty June 24 to one count of wire fraud, according to a Justice Department news release. Prosecutors allege Mr. Bucknum began embezzling funds from CCN’s business…
From the Justice Department charging 455 defendants as part of its 2026 National Healthcare Fraud Takedown to an Oklahoma hospital CEO pleading guilty to $30 million in Medicare fraud, here are 10 healthcare billing fraud cases Becker’s reported since June…
Elevance Health paid CMS $342 million following a Medicare Advantage sanction notice alleging the insurer did not properly address overpayments for years. June 22 filings in a New York federal court included an email from an Elevance vice president to…
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The former CEO of a now-closed Oklahoma hospital pleaded guilty May 26 to conspiracy charges involving five companies he owned, according to court records filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Here are five things…
A federal judge ruled June 24 that nursing, physician associate and other clinical groups are likely to succeed in their challenge to a Department of Education rule that excluded their degrees from “professional” status, subjecting students to lower federal loan…
Clinicians and advocacy groups are pressing Congress on two major legislative efforts to better support the nation’s healthcare workforce: a proposed tax credit for healthcare providers practicing in shortage areas and a push to fund the only federal law dedicated…
St. Louis-based SSM Health Care has agreed to pay $939,290 to resolve allegations that employees at the retail pharmacy at Saint Louis University Hospital routinely waived patient copays, causing Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to overpay for…
In a bid to curtail U.S. emergency department closures, two senators introduced a bill June 24 that seeks to provide rural emergency rooms at least $1 million each year over the next decade. Senators Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Maggie Hassan,…