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Lincare settles for $12-million

The Clearwater company, which supplies home oxygen equipment, admits nothing in a deal to end federal inquiries.

By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published May 16, 2006

CLEARWATER - Lincare Holdings Inc., one of the nation's largest suppliers of home oxygen equipment, resolved four long-standing federal investigations Monday at a cost of $12-million.

The Clearwater company said the settlement payments did not include admission of wrongdoing for allegations, some of which were more than a decade old.

"We are pleased to have resolved these matters with the government,'' Lincare's chief executive John P. Byrnes said in a release after the close of the stock market. "Lincare fully cooperated with the government during the course of their inquiries. Our board of directors believes that it was in the best interests of the company to put these matters behind us.''

Byrnes said the company had reserves for a substantial portion of the settlement charges. Lincare, which held its annual meeting on Monday, had reported the four investigations in previous filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The longest-running investigation was disclosed in June 2000 and concerned a Florida inquiry into Lincare's relationships with "certain physicians and other referral sources" from January 1993 through December 2000. The company said the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services alleged the company had given kickbacks to providers in violation of federal laws.

Three separate investigations of the company's practices had taken place in Massachusetts, Tennessee and Idaho. Each involved allegations that Lincare had inappropriately sought reimbursement under Medicare. Under scrutiny were billing practices from January 1995 through March 2004.

In addition to the $12-million, Lincare, as part of the settlements, entered into what the company's press release described as a "corporate integrity agreement" with the Office of Inspector General. Satisfying government regulators is critical because Lincare, which had $1.3-billion in revenue last year, receives 67 percent of its revenue from Medicare and Medicaid.

Lincare, which has more than 800 locations nationwide, settled an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento, Calif., in 2001, paying $4.15-million while admitting no wrongdoing.

[Last modified May 16, 2006, 06:36:55]