In October, it was learned the company had become one of Florida's largest political contributors between 2004 and 2007, reporting a total of $2.6 million to the state Republican Party as well as individual Republican candidates. According to a report in Health News Florida, "Tampa attorney Barry Cohen "said today the contributions were pennies on the dollar compared to the money the HMO saved in Medicaid fines -- and the profits it made."
In November, industry analysts were predicting that "WellCare's strong Medicaid HMO position in multiple states will enable it to grow the upcoming Medicaid expansion that is part of the new health law."
In late April, the White House apparently backed a federal settlement with Wellcare letting the company off the hook forever. The final settlement was for about $137 million, of up to $600 million estimated embezzled from federal and state funds.
There's an old saying that you can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been. Wellcare's first financial success was defeated because they got caught stealing. The emerging federal "hands-off" policy towards Medicaid means they, and all the other publicly traded companies feeding off the backs of our most vulnerable citizens, will no longer have to worry about getting caught. Nobody will be looking.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
4
3
2
