A unit of Community Health Systems Inc, one of the largest U.S. hospital groups, and three of its hospitals have agreed to pay $75 million to settle claims that they made illegal donations to county governments in New Mexico to secure federal funding. Whistleblower Robert Baker, former revenue manager for the Community Health unit, will receive $18.7 million of the settlement, subject to approval by the U.S. New Mexico federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday. Community Health on Monday denied the allegations. The lawsuit, filed by Baker in 2005 and joined by the U.S. government in 2009, claims that the three hospitals made donations to three New Mexico counties in order to get federal matching funds from a program that provided extra Medicaid funding to rural hospitals.
