UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in charter)

Delaware		001-15925		13-3893191
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)		(Commission File Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

4000 Meridian Boulevard
Franklin, Tennessee 37067
(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (615) 465-7000

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

o     Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o     Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o     Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o     Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (l7 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

 

Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

Today, Community Health Systems, Inc. (the “Company”) was contacted by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding a complaint styled United States ex rel. Reuille vs. Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation and Lutheran Musculosskeletal Center, LLC d/b/a Lutheran Hospital, filed in the Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division. The lawsuit was originally filed under seal on January 7, 2009. The suit is brought under the False Claims Act and alleges that Lutheran Hospital of Indiana billed the Medicare program for (a) false 23 hour observation after outpatient surgeries and procedures, and (b) intentional assignment of inpatient status to one-day stays for cases that do not meet Medicare criteria for inpatient intensity of service or severity of illness. The relator had worked in the case management department of Lutheran Hospital of Indiana but was reassigned to another department in the fall of 2006. This facility was acquired by the Company as part of the July 25, 2007 merger transaction with Triad Hospitals, Inc. The complaint also includes allegations of age discrimination in Ms. Reuille’s 2006 reassignment and retaliation in connection with her resignation on October 1, 2008. The Company had cooperated fully with the government in its investigation of this matter, but had been unaware of the exact nature of the allegations in the complaint.

On December 27, 2010, the government filed a notice that it declined to intervene in this suit. That same day, an order was filed directing that the complaint be unsealed and served on the defendants by the relator. The suit has not been served on the defendants and the Company was not notified of these orders. Also today, April 22, 2011, the government advised the Company that it is considering this suit in light of the investigation that is the subject of the subpoena we received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, on April 8, 2011. We are cooperating with them in that evaluation.

The information furnished pursuant to this Item 7.01 shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.