Ga. hospital agrees to $20 million false billing settlement

ATLANTA (AP) Federal prosecutors say a central Georgia hospital system has agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement to resolve allegations of fraudulent Medicare billing.

Authorities say the Medical Center of Central Georgia has agreed to pay $20 million to settle claims that it billed Medicare for services that were more expensive than what the hospital should have been billing for between 2004 and 2008.

Prosecutors say hospital officials knowingly charged Medicare for unnecessary inpatient admissions when they could have performed outpatient procedures and billed less.

Hospital officials said in a statement that they've entered an agreement with federal officials requiring the hospital to give employees more compliance training.

The Medical Center of Central Georgia is based in Macon and prosecutors say it is the second largest hospital in the state.