Calpers agrees to review Tenet Healthcare
Wednesday November 20, 6:00 pm ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov 20 (Reuters) - Calpers has agreed to a labor union's request for the U.S. pension giant to review pricing and medical practices at hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corp, which is under federal investigation, a Calpers spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers, will hear the concerns of the labor union -- already engaged in a bitter organizing dispute with the nation's No. 2 hospital chain -- at the pension fund's next meeting in December, said pension fund spokeswoman Pat Macht.
Macht said staff would prepare a report for the pension fund's investment committee on the hospital chain which faces a federal audit for its nationwide Medicare billing.
"We read the papers like anyone else," Macht said. "Staff members are checking with the health maintenance organizations about it and what the impact might be on Calpers members."
The Service Employees International Union, which is locked in a battle to organize Tenet hospitals, wants Calpers to look into charges the chain deliberately inflated charges and failed to hold medical staff accountable for the quality of care.
Tenet spokesman Steven Campanini brushed off the union's request to air their grievances before the Calpers board, saying it stemmed from efforts to organize at hospitals across the country.
"It is important their request be viewed in that light," Campanini said. "The company is already reviewing pricing policy as part of a more comprehensive review by senior management."
Calpers contracts with hospitals through its approved health maintenance organizations. For this reason, Macht said she was not sure what sort of action the $128-billion pension fund could take against Tenet.
Even so, the Calpers action comes at a tough time for Tenet, whose stock has nose-dived since October amid a federal audit of its billing and an investigation into two California doctors who allegedly performed unnecessary heart procedures on scores of patients.Shares of Tenet, which closed on Wednesday at $17.85 on the New York Stock Exchange, have dropped by 64 percent since the start of October.

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