Renown Health has agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a Medicare fraud allegation brought against it by the federal government. Renown decided to settle the complaint rather than pursue a costly defense. The case began when a former Renown employee, Cecilia Guardiola, filed suit in June 2012 against Renown under whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. Her lawsuit said Renown submitted false Medicare claims for inpatient hospital services over several years, that should have been billed on a less expensive outpatient or observation basis.