Medicaid recipients aren’t the big thieves

How refreshing to see the article, “Doctor risked it all to blow the whistle on a national Medicare fraud.” Dr. Michael Mayes is my hero of the year.

Although Dr. Mayes helped federal attorneys uncover at least $500 million in fraudulent payments to Medicare and Medicaid, this was nowhere near the largest such fraud discovered by the Department of Justice. In 2000, the agency uncovered Medicare fraud by Columbia Hospital Corporation of America, which eventually resulted in a then-record $1.7 billion fine. I worked on discovery with attorneys on that case, which led to the firing of CEO Rick Scott, whose golden parachute was more than $300 million. Scott is now governor of Florida, and Medicare was reimbursed only $840 million.

I revisit the Columbia HCA case to show how our government health insurance programs are being bankrupted more by ruthless corporations than by individual citizens who sometimes are able to receive more from Medicaid than we feel is appropriate.

What can we expect from citizens, especially the poor, when we see so much corruption from our politicians and other “takers,” such as the Rick Scotts or the companies that Dr. Mayes helped expose..

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.