Pelosi and other senators speak at rally for healthcare

The Menendez - Melgen investigation continues

For an update on the widening Bob Menendez - Salomon Melgen Case; 

Here are a few brief healines:


Comeuppance for Menendez, Obama and Hagel

Washington Post (blog) - ‎48 minutes ago‎

And when Melgen needed help with a port security contract in the Dominican Republic last year, Menendez urged U.S. officials to press the country to carry out the multimillion-dollar agreement.” Democrats haven't yet thrown him overboard, but his days ...




Sen. Menendez: No Undue Influence on Behalf of Political Donor

ABC News - ‎15 minutes ago‎

Still, Menendez's close ties to Melgen have sparked scrutiny in recent weeks. The Senate ethics committee is investigating two free trips he took to Melgen's residence in the Dominican Republic in 2010. He recently paid Melgen $58,000 from his personal ...



Report cites more ties between Menendez, under-fire doctor

Philadelphia Inquirer (blog) - ‎1 hour ago‎

Robert Menendez twice spoke to federal health officials about a Medicare billing dispute involving his friend and donor Salomon Melgen, the Washington Post reported today, raising more questions about the ties between the Democratic senator and South ...



Menendez says he called gov't in way to help donor

Boston.com - ‎9 minutes ago‎

The senator called federal health officials in 2009 and met with them again in 2012, each time urging them to change what he called an unfair payment policy which had cost his friend Melgen $8.9 million, according to an official close to the investigation who ...



Sen. Menendez acknowledges he contacted US gov't amid billing fight with ...
Washington Post - ‎33 minutes ago‎

This was during a dispute between CMS and Salomon Melgen, a longtime friend and donor. The FBI searched Melgen's Florida offices last week. Menendez says, “The bottom line is, we raised concerns with CMS over policy and over ambiguities that are ...



Report: Menendez pressed officials over donor's federal audit

The Hill (blog) - ‎4 hours ago‎

Melgen, a close friend of Menendez's, reportedly overbilled the U.S. government by almost $9 million, inviting a federal audit. Menendez aides said that the senator contacted officials on two occasions to complain that the billing rules were unclear and that the ...



Cough: Menendez Repeatedly Intervened on Disgraced Donor's Behalf

Town Hall - ‎1 hour ago‎

Just for reference, Melgen donated $700,000 to Menendez and other Senate Democrats in 2012 alone. It gets better: Other Florida doctors have asserted that Melgen used his close relationship with Menendez to intimidate critics within his profession.



Senator Bob Menendez Is Under Investigation For Sordid Ethics Violations

Business Insider - ‎1 hour ago‎

US media reported that the FBI conducted a raid on Tuesday on the West Palm Beach offices of Salomon Melgen, a friend who has made financial contributions to the political campaigns of Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. The Miami Herald said ...



Where could Svetlana be?

The Star-Ledger - NJ.com (blog) - ‎14 hours ago‎

The original source of the scandal surrounding Melgen and New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, a tipster who goes by “Peter Williams,” first told ABC News' Rhonda Schwartz about this woman in early 2012. “Williams” identified her as “Svetlana B.” ...





Controversy surrounding Menendez deepens.

PolitickerNJ - ‎34 minutes ago‎

Melgen has donated heavily to Menendez and last year donated $700,000 to a Democratic PAC that spent more than $600,000 on Menendez's race against challenger Joe Kyrillos. Menendez had a two to one money advantage over Kyrillos in the race.




Sen. Menendez Suggested Feds Shouldn't Be So Hard on His Shady Doctor ...

New York Magazine - ‎5 hours ago‎

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez hasn't said much about the various allegations surrounding his relationship with donor/shady doctor friend Salomon Melgen — including claims that he solicited underage prostitutes, failed to disclose $60,000 in flights on ...



Capital Eye Opener, Feb. 7: Menendez Ties to Donor Deepen, Hutchison Joins ...

Center for Responsive Politics - ‎2 hours ago‎

As we reported last week, the donor, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen -- who's now under investigation by the FBI -- and his family have given more than $426,000 to federal candidates since 1992. The list of recipients includes Republicans and many ...



Senator Menendez sticks up for his benefactor against Medicare overbilling ...

Human Events - ‎3 hours ago‎

The rest of it went into luxuries such as a private jet – which Menendez suddenly remembered he owed Melgen $58,000 for using, just as conservative bloggers began digging into a story the mainstream media had studiously ignored throughout the election ...



Reports: Menendez intervened for Palm Beach donor doc in Medicare dispute

Palm Beach Post - ‎2 hours ago‎

North Palm Beach resident Melgen, his family and businesses have given more than $1.1 million to federal and state political candidates and committees over the past 20 years, with the bulk of the money going to Democrats. Menendez has been the largest ...



Robert Menendez Contacted Federal Officials In Medicare Dispute With Top ...

Huffington Post - ‎25 minutes ago‎

Robert Menendez Contacted Federal Officials In Medicare Dispute With Top Donor Salomon Melgen. The Washington Post | Posted: 02/07/2013 11:16 am EST.  Robert Menendez Medicare. The Washington Post reported ...



Menendez Went To Bat For Florida Eye Doctor In Medicare Dispute

TPM - ‎3 hours ago‎

Bob Menendez (D-NJ) reached out to top federal officials on behalf of Salomon Melgen after the Florida eye doctor was audited for overbilling the government, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Menendez aides said Wednesday that the junior New ...



Menendez Waded Into Top Donor's Fraud Case

Newser - ‎1 hour ago‎

Robert Menendez twice tried to intervene on behalf of pal and major campaign donor Dr. Salomon Melgen in the optometrist's ongoing battle with Medicare over alleged fraud, the Washington Post and New York Times report. Melgen is accused of overbilling ...




Bob Menendez Sex Scandal Intensifies As FBI Shifts Focus to New Jersey

PolicyMic - ‎3 hours ago‎

According to the Daily Caller piece, the two women said they met Menendez around Easter at Casa de Campo, a 7,000-acre resort in the Dominican Republic owned by West Palm Beach, Fla. ophthalmologist Dr. Salomon Melgen. The women, who asked for ...



More on Melgen and Menendez

WJNO - ‎42 minutes ago‎

The lawmaker reached out to federal officials back in 2009 about the government's audit into Dr melgen. That audit found the doctor overbilled medicare by nearly $9 million. Menendez reportedly complained to the director overseeing medicare payments, ...



"Bob": A Corrupt Senator

Cubasi.cu - ‎16 minutes ago‎

A republican senator for Georgia, Johnny Isakson, declared that a few days back FBI agents raided one of Melgen's residences, located in West Palm Beach, under the suspicion of embezzling the health system for the elder, Medicare. The wealthy oculist has ...

,

.
Source: Google News
.
.

Whistleblower lawsuit alleges Florida Hospital filed millions in false claims

Photo (Courtesy) http://www.huntonbrady.com/florida-hospital-ginsburg-tower-2

5:03 p.m. EST, August 8, 2012|By Marni Jameson, Orlando Sentinel

A whistle-blower lawsuit based on insider information from a former Florida Hospital-Orlando billing employee and a staff physician alleges that seven Adventist Health hospitals in Central Florida have overbilled the federal government for tens of millions of dollars in false or padded medical claims.

The suit claims Florida Hospital used improper coding for more than a decade to overbill Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare, all federal government payors. In addition, it alleges, the hospital commonly overbilled for a drug used, for example, in MRI scans and billed for computer analyses that were never performed.

Plaintiffs Amanda Dittman, a bill-coding and reimbursement compliance officer, and Dr. Charlotte Elenberger, a radiologist, were either employed or affiliated with Florida Hospital Orlando between 1995 and 2009. They filed a lawsuit in July 2010, alleging that the improprieties occurred during those years.

Last week their suit received a green light from U.S. District Judge John Antoon to proceed. In his ruling, Antoon denied Adventist Health System's motion to dismiss the claim, calling the evidence "extensive and sufficient."

Adventist Health, based in Altamonte Springs, asked the judge to dismiss the case for insufficient evidence. However, Antoon refused the request, saying the complaint "satisfies the [False Claim Act] requirements of describing the alleged fraudulent acts, why they were fraudulent, when they occurred, and who engaged in them."

Among the Florida hospitals cited are Florida Hospital Orlando, Florida Hospital Altamonte, Florida Hospital Apopka, Florida Hospital East Orlando, Florida Hospital Celebration Health, Florida Hospital Kissimmee and Winter Park Memorial Hospital.

In February, four local Adventist Health hospitals paid $3.9 million to the federal government to settle allegations that they overbilled Medicare.

'Could exceed $100 million'

Marlan Wilbanks, attorney for the plaintiffs, said that, although he can't determine the total amount of damages until he gets sworn depositions and gathers more records, "we know the sum is very large because it went on for over a decade."

If found guilty, the health system would not only be responsible for repaying the excess money received, but also for paying civil penalties of $5,500 to $11,000 per false claim, and damages, he said.

"When you're looking at something that happened thousands of times, and that carries substantial civil monetary penalties for each claim and treble damages, the total exposure could exceed $100 million," Wilbanks said.

A trial is set for December 2013.

Gabriel Imperato, attorney for Adventist Health, would not discuss the case, saying, "It is our policy not to comment on pending litigation for our clients."

Hospital spokeswoman Samantha O'Lenick said that, although she was aware of the case, "we don't comment on any cases that are in active litigation."

Dittman worked for Florida Radiology Associates from 1996 to 2001 and then for Florida Hospital Orlando from 2001 to 2008. During that time, the lawsuit alleges, she witnessed billing-code "modifiers" routinely misused in ways that would result in extra payments.

"This allegation is not limited to Florida Hospital Orlando," said Wilbanks, but extends to the other hospitals named in the suit. Dittman ultimately had billing responsibilites in each of the hospital's radiology departments.

Dittman also alleged that the hospital routinely used a billing code for a larger dose of the drug octreotide than was actually administered. A radioactive agent given intravenously or by injection, octreotide is used to enhance radiology images. Rather than bill for 1,000 micrograms of the drug, it billed for 5,000 micrograms, the suit alleges, overcharging the government by nearly $2,500 per dose.

While working for Florida Radiology Associates from 1995 to 2008, Elenberger had staff privileges at Florida Hospital Orlando and alleges the hospital was billing — and being paid — for services related to a computer-aided-detection analysis that helps doctors interpret mammography scans, even when the CAD analysis wasn't performed.

For three months in 2006 the CAD system wasn't working, yet the hospital billed for the CAD scans, the suit alleges.

Taxpayers recover

Under the False Claims Act, whistle-blowers stand to gain substantial amounts, sometimes as much as 10 percent to 20 percent of the award, experts say. However, coming forward with knowledge of fraud is "always difficult for health-care professionals," Wilbanks said. It can be career-limiting.

Since filing suit, Elenberger continues to practice in Central Florida, although in Nov. 2009 she chose to resign her staff privileges at Florida Hospital. Dittman now works for a hospital in California.

Source

.

The Road to Dictatorship; Next Stop: Martial Law

by JUSTIN RAIMONDO (ANTIWAR.COM)

(March 1, 2010) That 56 percent of all Americans "think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens" isn't really all that surprising.

After all, ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the government's "right" to read our e-mails, seize our property, hold us as "enemy combatants," and otherwise trample on the Constitution has been expanding at an exponential pace.

What's really shocking, however, is that, according to this CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll, released on Feb. 28, most of the people who believe this are overwhelmingly...Republicans.

That is, they are self-described supporters of the very same party which impaled the Constitution on the sword of the "war on terrorism."

According to the poll, "only 37 percent of Democrats" believe this, as opposed to "63 percent of Independents and nearly 7 in 10 Republicans."

Is it just me, or was it only yesterday that the Democratic base was outraged by "Bushitler," and the "Cheney-PNAC" alleged neo-fascists who were taking over the country and driving dissent underground? How quickly they turn!

Adding to the irony, the poll was taken on the same weekend the extension of the PATRIOT Act passed the Democratic-controlled Congress – without debate, without a peep of protest from the "progressives" in Congress, and disguised as a vote in favor of a Senate amendment to the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act.

More

Source:http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=2&contentid=6718

,

Health Care Reform Debacle

12/23/2009

Hoppy's Commentary For Wednesday
Talkline Host Hoppy Kercheval


Politicians love to reference history to bolster arguments. We are told that the health-reform bill is “landmark” legislation on par with Social Security and Medicare, thus glibly establishing the alleged historical significance.

But history—when it’s not being used as a convenient prop—can serve more precisely as a cautionary tale.

The Social Security Act of 1935 was all of 38 pages, including three pages for titles. It was pretty straight forward; the government would begin collecting a tax from employees and employers then pay benefits to retirees, dependent children, “cripple” children and the blind.

The money paid into the system would be held in a special treasury account then used to pay the benefits. Of course, all that money sitting around was too tempting for politicians who now spend it and replace it with IOU’s.

Medicare’s first budget in 1966 was $3 billion. The government said that by 1990 we would be spending $12 billion on Medicare; the budget that year was actually $107 billion.

This year the government budgeted $453 billion in Medicare and $290 billion in Medicaid.

Each program has been the victim of political expedience. Politicians of both parties have used the Social Security money with little concern over how that will impact future generations. Medicare and Medicaid have been engorged because of rising health care costs and added benefits.

I find it remarkable that the supporters of the current health care proposals can keep a straight face when they say the legislation will actually reduce the deficit. If they can get the public to buy that then they should add to the bill a “Pigs Can Fly” amendment.

Refreshingly, more Americans are catching on to Washington’s ways. Approval for the health plan has dropped below 50 percent in at least seven major polls. An NBC News-Wall Street Journal Poll found that just 32 percent Americans say President Obama’s health-reform plan is a good idea.

Yet the Democratic leadership of the Senate is rushing to pass the 2,074 page bill by week’s end. Christmas Eve may be the deadline for buying presents, but does legislation as complex and comprehensive as this have to be ready to open Christmas morning?

The answer of course is that Harry Reid’s “Cash for Cloture” program could crumble at any moment. Some senators who have not yet gotten their $100 million hospital (Chris Dodd of Conn.) or their $100 million in extra Medicaid money (Ben Nelson of Neb.) might insist on their share.

(A Talkline listener emailed me the suggestion that Senators Byrd and Rockefeller at least ask for an emergency turnaround gate on the West Virginia Turnpike in return for their “yes” votes.)

Health care reform may be the most significant piece of legislation ever to pass with no bi-partisan support. Medicare passed in 1965 with the votes of 13 Republicans in the Senate and 70 in the House. Social Security had the backing of 16 of 21 Republicans in the Senate and 81 of 96 Republicans in the House.

But all that matters is that the Reid has the numbers and this monstrosity will pass. There will be speeches about the “historic” moment. If the legislation or some form of it becomes law then we’ll know this much about history—we’ve learned nothing from it.

.

Source:http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=34275

.

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to $123M Medicare Fraud Scheme

By Staff August 17, 2009


Reinaldo Guerra of Miami, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud and one count of Medicare fraud, according to a news release from the United States Attorney General's Office of the Southern District of Florida.


According to the release, Mr. Guerra owned and operated 11 corporations that purported to supply durable medical equipment and submitted approximately $123 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare for DME that had not been prescribed or ordered by a physician nor delivered to patients. Medicare paid $35 million based on those claims.Mr. Guerra was indicted on charges along with Jose Luis Perez of Golden Beach, Fla., in July. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2009. Read the release about the $123 million Medicare fraud scheme.





Source: http://www.hospitalreviewmagazine.com/news-and-analysis/legal-and-regulatory/florida-man-pleads-guilty-to-123m-medicare-fraud-scheme.html

.

.

DEADLY DOCTORS

DEADLY DOCTORS
O ADVISERS WANT TO RATION CARE

By BETSY MCCAUGHEY

Emanuel: Believes in withholding care from elderly for greater good.

Last updated: 1:13 am

July 24, 2009 Posted: 1:03 am

July 24, 2009

THE health bills coming out of Congress would put the decisions about your care in the hands of presidential appointees. They'd decide what plans cover, how much leeway your doctor will have and what seniors get under Medicare.

Yet at least two of President Obama's top health advisers should never be trusted with that power.

Start with Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. He has already been appointed to two key positions: health-policy adviser at the Office of Management and Budget and a member of Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research.
Emanuel bluntly admits that the cuts will not be pain-free. "Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change," he wrote last year (Health Affairs Feb. 27, 2008).

Savings, he writes, will require changing how doctors think about their patients: Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath too seriously, "as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others" (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 18, 2008).
Yes, that's what patients want their doctors to do. But Emanuel wants doctors to look beyond the needs of their patients and consider social justice, such as whether the money could be better spent on somebody else.

Many doctors are horrified by this notion; they'll tell you that a doctor's job is to achieve social justice one patient at a time.

Emanuel, however, believes that "communitarianism" should guide decisions on who gets care. He says medical care should be reserved for the non-disabled, not given to those "who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens . . . An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia" (Hastings Center Report, Nov.-Dec. '96).

Translation: Don't give much care to a grandmother with Parkinson's or a child with cerebral palsy.

He explicitly defends discrimination against older patients: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age. Even if 25-year-olds receive priority over 65-year-olds, everyone who is 65 years now was previously 25 years" (Lancet, Jan. 31).

.

Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/deadly_doctors_180941.htm

.

Health care heats up town-hall meetings

By Ian Urbina

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
2:00 a.m. August 8, 2009

The bitter divisions over the overhaul of the nation's health care system have exploded at town-hall meetings over the past few days as members of Congress have been shouted down, hanged in effigy and taunted by crowds. In several cities, noisy demonstrations have led to fistfights, arrests and hospitalizations.

Democrats have accused the protesters of being organized by conservative lobbying groups such as FreedomWorks, while Republicans have responded that the protests are an organic response to the Obama administration's health care restructuring proposals.

There's no dispute, however, that most of the shouting and mocking is coming from opponents of those plans. Many of those opponents have been encouraged to attend by conservative commentators and Web sites.

“Become a part of the mob!” said a banner posted yesterday on the Web site of talk-show host Sean Hannity. “Attend an Obama Care Townhall near you!”

The exhortations don't advocate violence, but some urge opponents to be disruptive. “Pack the hall,” said a strategy memo circulated by the Web site Tea Party Patriots that included instructions to “rock-the-boat early in the Rep's presentation.” It added, “Yell out and challenge the Rep's statements early.

“Get him off his prepared script and agenda. Stand up and shout and sit right back down.”
The memo was obtained by the liberal Web site ThinkProgress. Its author, Robert MacGuffie, a founder of the conservative Web site Right Principles, confirmed that the memo was legitimate.
In response, liberal groups and the White House have also started sending supporters instructions for countering what they say are the organized disruptions.

A volatile mix has resulted. In Mehlville, Mo., St. Louis County police officers arrested six people Thursday night, some on assault charges, outside a health-care-and-aging forum organized by Rep. Russ Carnahan, a Democrat. Opponents of change, organized by the St. Louis Tea Party, apparently clashed with supporters organized by the Service Employees International Union outside the middle school gym.

That same day in Romulus, Mich., Rep. John Dingell, a veteran Democrat, was shouted down during a health care meeting by a rowdy crowd of foes of health care overhaul, many crying, “Shame on you!” A similar scene unfolded in Denver on Thursday when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California visited a homeless clinic there.

In a statement yesterday, Dingell, 83, deplored those trying to “demagogue the discussion” but said he wouldn't be deterred. “As long as I have a vote, I will not let shouting, intimidation or misinformation deter me from fighting for this cause,” he said.

The tenor of some of the debates has become extreme. Pelosi has accused people at recent protests of carrying signs associating the Democratic plan with Nazi swastikas and SS symbols, and some photographs showing such signs have been posted on the Web. On Thursday, talk-show host Rush Limbaugh said the administration's health care logo was itself similar to a Nazi symbol.

Yesterday, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League released statements criticizing the comparison.

“It is preposterous to try and make a connection between the president's health care logo and the Nazi Party symbol, the Reichsadler,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

On Thursday, top White House aides tried to bolster Senate Democrats during a lunch meeting, arming the lawmakers with tips for avoiding disastrous town-hall meetings.

“If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard,” said deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina, according to an official who attended the meeting.

Earlier in the week, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs compared the scenes at health care forums to the “Brooks Brothers brigade” in 2000 – a reference to the protests that disrupted the vote count in Miami during the presidential election battle between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Portrayed at the time as local protesters, many were Republican staff members flown in from Washington.

One of the week's most raucous encounters occurred Thursday in the Ybor City section of Tampa, Fla., where about 1,500 people attended a forum held by Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Kathy Castor. When the auditorium at the Children's Board of Hillsborough County reached capacity and organizers had to close the doors, the scene descended into violence.

As Castor began to speak, scuffles broke out as people tried to push their way into the meeting room. Parts of her remarks were drowned out by chants of “Read the bill! Read the bill!” and “Tyranny!” as a video recording of the meeting showed. Outside the meeting, there were competing chants of “Yes, we can!” and “Just say no!”

Some of the protesters told local reporters they had been urged to come by a local activist group promoted by conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck. Others said they had received e-mail messages from the Hillsborough County Republican Party that urged people to speak out against the plan and offered talking points.

Elsewhere, there was similar discontent.

At an Aug. 1 appearance at grocery store in Austin, Texas, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat, was drowned out as he tried to speak on health care change. One opponent had a mock tombstone with Doggett's name on it.

Last week, a protester hanged an effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr., D-Md., during a rally opposing health care change. This week, Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., said he had received a death threat about his support of health care changes.

Support for Obama's approach to health care has dropped in the polls, and the White House sought to address some oft-repeated claims.

Among them: Will Medicare benefits be cut? Will government bureaucrats ration care? Will the elderly get progressively less care and then have euthanasia presented as an option?

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius answered: No, no and no.

She said the administration wants to save money in Medicare by eliminating unnecessary procedures and hospital readmissions, among other things, but that there is no desire to eliminate needed benefits. She contended that insurance companies already ration care and that Obama wants to give doctors more control, not less.

As for the euthanasia claim: “Nothing could be less true. . . . That is just not part of the conversation,” Sebelius said.

The rumor has become widespread and seems to stem from a provision in the House bill that would require Medicare to pay for direct consultations with health care professionals. Sebelius noted that no one would be required to use the benefit and said it would help many families.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In the Union-Tribune on Page A1

Source:
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/08/1n8health235058-health-care-heats-town-hall-meetin/?uniontrib