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Fourteen hospitals, including one in Asheville, agreed to pay more than $12 million to settle allegations they submitted false claims to Medicare, the Justice Department said today.

Mission Hospital in Asheville agreed to pay $1.5 million.

Other hospitals are in New York, Mississippi, Washington, Indiana, Missouri and Florida.

According to the Justice Department, the settlements resolve allegations they overcharged Medicare between 2000 and 2008 when performing kyphoplasty, a minimally invasive procedure that's used to treat spinal fractures often resulting from osteoporosis.

"In many cases, the procedure can be performed safely as a less costly outpatient procedure, but the government contends that the hospitals performed the procedure on an in-patient basis in order to increase their Medicare billings," the Justice Department said in a news release.

The Justice Department said it has reached settlements with more than 40 hospitals with fines totaling more than $39 million to resolve allegations related to kyphoplasty claims submitted to Medicare.

The hospitals were named as defendants in a whistleblower lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act, which allows citizens to bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the settlement's proceeds.

The lawsuit was filed in 2008 in federal district court in Buffalo, N.Y., by Craig Patrick and Charles Bates.

They will get about $2.1 million from the settlements.