HCA ends long-running tax dispute with state

A major hospital chain is settling a long-running tax dispute with the state of Florida.

Records show HCA Holdings, the parent company of the Nashville-based HCA, signed an agreement with Florida officials in late March to drop three lawsuits. The lawsuits relate to disputes over how much in corporate income taxes HCA paid to the state.

Florida Trend magazine first reported the settlement.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue refused to discuss the settlement, but records from the Attorney General’s office show that the settlement resolved tax payments running from 2001 to 2012. The department will not seek any further payments from HCA, while the hospital chain will drop its demands for refunds.

Gov. Rick Scott was once the CEO of Columbia/HCA, but he left the company in 1997 during a federal investigation into Medicare fraud.

Republished with permission of the Associated Press.