Feds investigating company headed by former La. health secretary

A private health care company that met with state health and LSU officials last summer to discuss overhauling the LSU hospital system is under federal investigation. That’s according to CBS’s 60 Minutes, which reported on Sunday evening that Health Management Associates of Florida has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with allegations that it pressured doctors within its network to admit patients for overnight stays to the hospital, even when that wasn’t necessary. Alan Levine, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s former health secretary, is now a top official at HMA. He was among the executives who met in July with LSU and state health agency officials. In the 60 Minutes report, HMA officials denied the allegations that they pressured providers to admit patients. Levine says the allegations are coming from disgruntled employees. And if they were true, he says, it would be reflected in the admissions data—and those statistics haven’t changed in four years and are near or below industry averages, he maintains. The Jindal administration issued a brief statement to Daily Report in response to the allegations, saying: “The state doesn’t have a contract with HMA for LSU hospitals and has never had one.” You can check out the edition of CBS 60 Minutes online here.