Rick Scott, Gubernatorial Candidate in Florida Tied to Possible Medicare Overbilling

We keep hearing more and more about Medicare fraud and those tied to potential cases today . This case involves 2 doctors and their issues with the company and the doctors didn’t know each other.

The doctors stated billing and the use of their names was abused and now there’s another lawsuit has filed a lawsuit and is requesting a deposition that Scott gave reference to another case. In1997 Scott was forced to resign as the CEO of Columbia/HCA, a large hospital chain. BD

Two weeks before Florida’s primary, new allegations of improper Medicare billing by Solantic, a health care company co-founded by Rick Scott, have surfaced, in addition to charges made by former Solantic doctors that their names and licenses were used without their consent. Within hours of being pressed for answers by The Florida Independent, Solantic officials and Scott held hastily arranged press conferences Tuesday to rebut the charges.

Two doctors — both former employees of Solantic, the chain of clinics launched by Scott and in which he is a majority investor — allege that Solantic repeatedly used their name and medical license information without their permission or knowledge. Both doctors state that by allegedly misappropriating their information, the company was able to keep clinics operating in contravention of state law.

Neither doctor states they have evidence Rick Scott knew of the alleged misuse of their names, or of their complaints to management. Several ex-employees say that Scott was a hands-on owner, who talked frequently with management and approved all major policy decisions.

In 1997 Scott was forced to resign as the CEO of Columbia/HCA, then the country’s largest hospital chain, while it was being investigated for massive Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Federal agents seized records from several Columbia/HCA hospitals that revealed how the hospitals kept two sets of books: one that reflected a procedure’s true costs and another with inflated expenses charged to Medicare. There were also allegations that hospitals paid illegal kickbacks to doctors for patient referrals. Four executives were indicted. Two of them were found guilty and sent to prison. The company ultimately pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and ended up paying $1.7 billion in fines and settlements.