Federal law enforcement officials from various agencies announced the deal with the Sacramento-based health care provider Monday in San Francisco.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Stephanie M. Hinds said, in a statement, that Sutter Health agreed to pay $13 million to settle allegations that it billed government health programs for lab tests performed by others.
Federal authorities said the civil settlement agreement is "neither an admission of liability by Sutter Health nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded."
Sutter Health didn't immediately return a request for comment.
The government contends in a civil settlement agreement signed by Sutter Health that under the terms of a contract between Sutter Health hospital Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and Navigant Network Alliance, LLC, Navigant referred urine toxicology specimens obtained from physicians and laboratories across the country to Sutter.
Sutter allegedly submitted bills, or caused bills to be submitted, for reimbursement of the qualitative and quantitative testing it performed on the specimens from August 2016 through June 2017.
Federal officials say Sutter didn't perform the quantitative testing on thousands of specimens referred to under the agreement, and the tests were instead performed by third-party labs. The government says Sutter nevertheless sought reimbursement for the tests.
