If you enjoyed last year's health care meltdown, when promising reforms were whittled down to an insurance bill that barely was worth passing, then you'll really appreciate the Florida gubernatorial candidacy of Rick Scott. If you love the health insurance industry, you'll really appreciate the Florida gubernatorial candidacy of Rick Scott. If you're tired of nefarious industries buying politicians, and would rather see a politician already owned because he has been an owner, you'll really appreciate the Florida gubernatorial candidacy of Rick Scott.
Who is Rick Scott? As Media Matters explained, last year:
Rick Scott's company, Columbia/HCA, paid a $1.7 billion settlement after pleading guilty to several charges. The fraud was so rampant under Scott's leadership that some documents were brazenly "stamped with warnings that they should not be disclosed to Medicare auditors," "some hospitals were knowingly inflating the numbers reported to the Government in the cost report to improperly raise total compensation," and they "improperly included expenses for employee picnics, Christmas gifts and food for nonemployees at social functions as expenditures related to patient care in the cost report for its headquarters."
Columbia/HCA pled guilty to "overcharging the government," "exaggerating the seriousness of the illnesses" of patients, and giving doctors kickbacks in order to receive higher Medicare payments. Well done. It takes a special kind of person to steal money from a program that helps hardworking Americans.
Yes, Rick Scott once led the health care industry's largest company. Yes, Rick Scott once led what was arguably the health care industry's slimiest and sleaziest company. The slime and sleaze leading to his ouster. As explained by karoli, at Crooks And Liars:
Columbia/HCA didn't just scheme to defraud Medicare a little bit. They schemed to commit fraud on a mega-fraud basis. And it wasn't just insurance companies they tried to rip off. It was Medicare, Medicaid, and even TRICARE, the health plan that covers our veterans. It wasn't only overbilling, either. Here's a partial list:
* Intentional year-end record fraud alleging payments from the government less than actually received, leaving the government with the burden of overpaying them.
* Payment of kickbacks to providers to inflate claims billed to Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE.
* Billing costs to the government which were not allowed.
* Inflating the cost of transferring patients from HCA facilities to other, non-HCA facilities.
* Inflating claims for indigent patients.
* Paying kickbacks for diabetes patients.
* Overbilling states for Medicaid patients.
The entire list and summary of the case is on the DOJ website.
Columbia/HCA settled the morass of fraud claims for $1.7 billion, the largest-ever settlement of a Medicare fraud investigation.
But it gets better. Or worse, depending on your taste for slime and sleaze. From a 2009 article by Nick Baumann, in Mother Jones:
Back in March, Scott spent $5 million of his own money to set up a nonprofit called Conservatives for Patients' Rights. The group aims to be the command center for the right's fight against Democratic reform efforts. With the major interest groups—including hospital companies, pharmaceutical companies, and doctors—that have opposed reform in the past holding their fire this year in order to have a seat at the legislative table, Scott's group has filled the anti-reform void. According to an estimate reported by the Associated Press, around $15 million has already been spent on ads favoring the Democrats' plan, and $4 million has been spent to oppose it. Much of that $4 million has come from Scott and CPR, and he's claimed his group will spend as much as $20 million.
Yes, Rick Scott was health care reform's number one enemy. To the degree that health care reform fell short of its potential, Rick Scott is significantly to blame. And, of course, his tactics in opposing health care reform were those tried and true Republican favorites: lies. And worse. Or better, once again depending on your taste for slime and sleaze.
Baumann:
To disseminate its message, CPR has hired the same public relations company that handled the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
To say Scott Swift Boated health care reform isn't an exaggeration. It's exactly accurate. And it gets even better. Or worse. Once again. As Sam Stein wrote, last year:
A report released on Tuesday calls out former hospital CEO Rick Scott for sitting on the board of a company used by Saudi Arabia and Iran to suppress Internet access. In recent months, Scott has become the most high-profile conservative activist working to oppose the health care reforms backed by the Obama administration.
The newly formed organization Media Matters Action Network released a document on Tuesday detailing Scott's links to the Internet monitoring company Secure Computing, and the use of that company's software by some of the world's most oppressive regimes.
The findings add another politically provocative element to the battle over health care reform. While officials with Secure Computing did not immediately return requests for information on Scott's work or compensation, the optics could be problematic. Scott has pledged to spend more than $5 million of his own money to build resistance to greater government involvement in the health care industry. Where that money comes from changes the perception of his opposition.
Got that? Scott made money off a company that helped Saudi Arabia and Iran repress their people, then used that money to help kill health care reform. Perhaps the voters of Florida should know. Perhaps they should know that he once led a company that defrauded publicly funded government health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, and even TRICARE, which covers military veterans. Perhaps they should know that the man attempting to become their governor defrauded them, and helped prevent them from having the much better health care system so many Americans desperately need.