(Radio Iowa) – A health care provider in the Sioux City metro has agreed to pay over 12-and-a-half MILLION dollars to settle a federal investigation of alleged kick-backs. The U-S Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa says kickbacks make health care more expensive and create the potential for health care decisions that are not in the best interest of the patient. The Dunes surgical hospital in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota was accused of making significant payments to a non-profit affiliate of a physician group whose physicians made referrals to the facility.

Those payments allegedly funded the salaries of athletic trainers who generated referrals to the surgical hospital. The settlement also resolves allegations that the surgical hospital provided free or below-market-value clinic space, staff, and supplies to another group of physicians.

The news release from the U-S Justice Department indicates the Dunes surgical center cooperated with the government’s investigation and has taken a number of significant steps to reach a resolution to the case. The facility was also accused of false billings to Medicare, Medicaid as well as TRICARE, the health care program for active duty military, veterans and their families. As part of the settlement, the surgical center has agreed to pay the states of Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska will be paid nearly one-four-four MILLION for the Medicaid infractions.