Blue Cross of California to End a Tenet Contract

Tenet Healthcare Corp., the biggest hospital operator in California, said the state’s top insurer would stop covering care at a company medical facility in Modesto amid allegations it performed unnecessary heart procedures.

WellPoint Health Networks Inc.’s Blue Cross of California, which has about 6.8 million members, will end its contract with Doctors Medical Center of Modesto on Nov. 30 because the Tenet hospital billed for “numerous improper, medically unnecessary” coronary bypass surgeries, according to a letter included in a Tenet filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shares of Tenet fell 61 cents to $12.88 on the NYSE.