United Health Group, Cuomo goes after United Health

Cuomo goes after United Health
Updated: 01/13/2009 09:26 PM
By: Erin Billups

NEW YORK STATE -- "I'm putting all the other healthcare insurance companies on notice today. This is the first step today with United," said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

After an investigation into allegations of unfair insurance reimbursement rates, United Health Group, one of the country's largest health insurers, has agreed to shut down its subsidiary, Ingenix, the nation's largest provider of health care billing information. Cuomo says Ingenix intentionally skewed the rates used when patients saw a doctor out of their coverage network.

"The system basically forced consumers to write a blank check to the doctor. They had no other guidance," Cuomo said.

Many large and small insurance providers use Ingenix, giving the company customer's billing information and all receiving the same reimbursement rate.

"Everyone bought into the system, everyone agreed, everyone has the same numbers. It was very difficult to detect," Cuomo said.

So customers would go to out-of-network doctors thinking they'd get, say, 80 percent back of what they were billed, only to find out that Ingenix would give back 10 to 28 percent less, calling that, the quote, usual and customary cost.

Mary Jerome, is being treated for advanced stage ovarian cancer. After she discovered her reimbursements were too low, she reported it to Cuomo's office.

"I felt like I had to battle twice, I had to battle cancer and I then felt I had to battle my insurance company,” said Jones. “It was almost too much to bear."

Now fewer people will have to bear that burden. United has also agreed to pay $50 million to a qualified nonprofit organization that will create a new independent database and reimbursement system. It will also develop a website where customers can find out, in advance, how much they'll pay before they go to the doctors.

But the investigation continues. Cuomo says one by one, they'll be investigating other insurance companies.

"I believe all these companies that have been involved with Ingenix, that there's a very strong case that they were perpetrating consumer frauds. And we are going to aggressively pursue those cases," Cuomo said.

In a press release, United Health's president said they're confident "the agreement will enhance the transparency of information" for consumers. But it seems this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Eight-count indictment for Fabian Aurignac ; health care fraud,...

McAllen Cardiologist Indicted For Health Care Fraud
Monday , December 01, 2008 Posted: 11:46 AM
Suspect faces up to 10 years in prison and fine of $250,000, if convicted

MCALLEN - A federal grand jury in McAllen has indicted cardiologist Fabian Aurignac for health care fraud, acting United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. Aurignac, formerly of McAllen, was arrested today in Austin, Texas, where he was to appear before the Texas Medical Board for a hearing regarding the suspension of his medical license. He is expected to make his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Austin today at 3:00 p.m. The case will be prosecuted in McAllen.

The eight-count indictment, returned under seal Oct. 21, 2008, and unsealed today following his arrest, accuses Aurignac of defrauding the Medicaid and Medicare health care benefit programs by means of false and fraudulent claims in connection with the use of unlicensed, foreign doctors and medical personal and for billing for medical services not rendered. Aurignac, 45, faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, if convicted.

The investigation leading to the charges in this case was conducted by the FBI and the Texas Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn Ferko is prosecuting the case. An Indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law

"MARTIN ACT" PROPOSED TO CRACK DOWN ON MEDICAID FRAUD

"Martin Act was used by the Attorney General with great success in prosecutions of fraud by investment banks, mutual funds and insurance companies. Those efforts led to the recovery of more than $6 billion for investors, businesses and the government. "


"MARTIN ACT" PROPOSED TO CRACK DOWN ON MEDICAID FRAUD

New Legislation Would Improve Prosecutors’ Ability to Fight Fraud
Attorney General Spitzer today proposed new Medicaid fraud legislation modeled after the statute he used to bring far-reaching reform to the financial industry.

Spitzer’s proposal, dubbed the "Martin Act for Health Care," removes limitations that hamper prosecution of health care fraud.

"New York State has been a national leader in the recovery of fraudulently obtained Medicaid funds," Spitzer said. "We could do even better if we strengthened the ability of prosecutors to prosecute obvious crimes."

In today’s health care delivery system, approaches to cheating the system by committing fraud have surpassed the dated definitions of larceny. This proposal overcomes the hypertechnical obstacles imposed by current law, and would allow prosecutors to bring cases against Medicaid providers who steal money through half-truths, omissions and deceptions.

The proposal would also help speed investigations and recoveries by providing new investigative tools for law enforcement authorities. For example, one key provision would allow the Attorney General to conduct examinations of Medicaid providers under oath and use the providers’ answers in civil recovery actions.

The Martin Act was used by the Attorney General with great success in prosecutions of fraud by investment banks, mutual funds and insurance companies. Those efforts led to the recovery of more than $6 billion for investors, businesses and the government.
Without Martin Act powers, New York still led the nation in Medicaid fraud recoveries, with $219 million recovered last year. With such powers, the Attorney General believes recoveries would increase significantly.

Spitzer previously introduced several bills aimed at improving Medicaid fraud recoveries and deterring fraud. One would provide financial incentives to those who report incidents of fraud and protects whistle blowers. Another would stiffen penalties for health care-related fraud.


The Attorney General maintains a toll-free tip-line for aid in his fight against Medicaid fraud. To report incidents of fraud or nursing home abuse contact: 866-NYS-FIGHT or (866-697-3444).

'Going door to door to sniff out fraud' We must!

Rampant Medicare fraud suspected in Miami
Miami may be ground zero,however this has been going on for years!

By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY
Home health care costs charged to Medicare in the Miami area have risen 20 times the national average in the past five years, prompting a federal investigation of suspected fraudulent billing.
Miami-Dade County is on track to cost Medicare a projected $1.3 billion for home health care services this fiscal year, up 1,300% in just five years, government data show.

SLEUTHS: Going door to door to sniff out fraud
Investigators suspect that fraud is helping to drive the increase because the population of Medicare beneficiaries in the county grew only 10.2% between 2004 and 2007, the latest government data show.

"You definitely have a problem down here," says Randall Culp, an FBI supervisory special agent who oversees a team that works with a Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Miami.

In South Florida, investigators say, some agencies are billing Medicare for millions of dollars in services that are unnecessary, overused or not provided at all.

Investigators elsewhere are paying attention because South Florida is a bellwether for scams that later surface in other large cities, such as Los Angeles and Houston. Scams involving fake AIDS treatments, for example, popped up in Detroit and several other cities after a crackdown in Miami, Culp and others say.

"Typically, Miami is ground zero. Then we see it move to the other high-fraud areas," says Suzanne Bradley, an investigator with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service's field office in Miami.

Home health agencies send nurses and aides to assist homebound elderly and disabled beneficiaries. Nationally, Medicare expects to spend $16.5 billion on home health care this year, up 65% from five years ago.

Medicare spent six times more on home health care services in Miami-Dade County during the first five months of this year than in Los Angeles County, where the Medicare population is three times larger, agency data show.

"It jumps off the page as out of proportion," says Kirk Ogrosky, deputy chief in the Criminal Division's Fraud Section of the Justice Department.

Today, acting Medicare chief Kerry Weems says he will announce new anti-fraud efforts, some targeted at home care agencies in Miami.

"It does affect everyone because everyone is paying into Medicare," says Peggy Sposato, a nurse investigator with the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida, who combs through data looking for unusual billings.

HCA INC/TN Richard Rainwater & George W Bush

Person
CRAIG E. GARDELLA

Records 1 - 18 of 18.
Company Name Form Type Received Date View
COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEMS INC 8-K 7/30/2007
HCA INC/TN 8-K 11/3/2005
PSYCHIATRIC SOLUTIONS INC 8-K 12/28/2004
HCA INC/TN 8-K 11/10/2004 PSYCHIATRIC SOLUTIONS INC 10-Q 8/11/2004
RENAL CARE GROUP INC 8-K 4/16/2004
HEALTHCARE REALTY TRUST INC 10-Q 11/14/2003
HEALTHWAYS, INC 8-K/A 10/10/2003
RFS PARTNERSHIP LP 8-K 1/16/2003
RFS HOTEL INVESTORS INC 8-K 1/16/2003
NORTHWEST AIRLINES CORP 10-Q 11/6/2002
AUTOZONE INC 8-K 10/1/2002
BUCKEYE TECHNOLOGIES INC 10-K 9/20/2002
BUCKEYE TECHNOLOGIES INC 10-Q 5/14/2002
NORTHWEST AIRLINES CORP 10-K405 4/1/2002
RESORTQUEST INTERNATIONAL INC 10-Q 11/14/2001
THOMAS & BETTS CORP 10-Q 8/15/2001
BUCKEYE TECHNOLOGIES INC 10-Q 5/2/2001

"...largest health-care fraud settlement ever registered in the United States. "

The hospital agreed to return $25 million to the federal government

Ten years they were robbing Medicare and Tricare....and what do they have to pay?
The hospital will also have to pay another $26.6 million to cover Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements it received for treating thousands of patients for substance abuse using unregulated and unlicensed methods between 1994 and 2004.


Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Staten Island University Hospital to Pay $88.9M in Fraud Case - efluxmedia.com - 16 Sep 2008

New York’s Staten Island University Hospital will have to pay $88.9 million to federal and state authorities in the largest health-care fraud settlement ever registered in the United States.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn accused the hospital of fraudulently billing Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE, the insurance offered to military personnel, between 1994 and 2005.


The settlements stem from two False Claims Act suits filed by whistleblowers, as well as two investigations by the US Attorney’s Office and the state Attorney General’s Office. The fraud schemes date between 1994 and 2005, according to officials. Part of the settlements covers work done by Dr. Gilbert Lederman’s radiation oncology department.


"This was a hospital that sought to exploit the Medicare program and obtain millions of dollars in payments that it was not entitled to," said Richard Reich, lawyer for federal whistleblower Elizabeth Ryan, who brought the first case against Lederman and the hospital. Investigators in this case determined that the hospital used incorrect billing codes in cancer treatment from 1996 through 2004 to Medicare and TRICARE. The hospital agreed to return $25 million to the federal government. Ms. Ryan, the widow of a hospital’s patient, will receive $3.75 million.


The hospital will also have to pay another $26.6 million to cover Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements it received for treating thousands of patients for substance abuse using unregulated and unlicensed methods between 1994 and 2004.

A statement released by the hospital said: “We want to assure our patients and the communities we serve that SIUH will continue to deliver the same high-quality care that has enabled us to win coveted national awards.”

By Anna Boyd

$9.3 billion recovered between 1996 and 2005...are you kidding?

Trillions have been stolen and this DOJ should be satsified with $9.3 billion recovered...give me a break!


WASHINGTON, D.C.
Whistle-blowers play large role in uncovering healthcare fraud
Insiders helped authorities recover more than $9.3 billion between 1996 and 2005. For their efforts, they get 15% to 25% of the amount reimbursed.
September 2, 2008
Insiders aid in healthcare fraud cases

Whistle-blowers have helped authorities recover at least $9.3 billion from healthcare providers accused of defrauding states and the federal government since 1996, according to an analysis of Justice Department records.


The department intensified efforts in the 1990s to combat healthcare fraud by using private citizens with inside knowledge of wrongdoing. They now initiate more than 90% of the department's lawsuits focusing on healthcare fraud.

Whistle-blowers start cases by filing a sealed complaint in federal court. The department investigates and can intervene, assuming the lead role in the lawsuit.

Whistle-blowers then get 15% to 25% of the amount recovered.


Of the $9.3 billion recovered between 1996 and 2005, whistle-blowers got more than $1 billion, analysts estimated, writing for the Annals of Internal Medicine. The analysts' estimates are conservative.

Medicare instructed AdvanceMed to disregard those policies

"...officials at Medicare instructed AdvanceMed to disregard those policies...'

WOW! is this suppose to be a surprise?
What do you want from the Secretary of DHHS, who comes from the "FAMILY OWNED" LARGEST INSURANCE BROKER in the STATE of UTAH?
THE LEAVITT GROUPReport Rejects Medicare Boast of Paring Fraud
By CHARLES DUHIGG
Published: August 20, 2008

Medicare’s top officials said in 2006 that they had reduced the number of fraudulent and improper claims paid by the agency, keeping billions of dollars out of the hands of people trying to game the system.

But according to a confidential draft of a federal inspector general’s report, those claims of success, which earned Medicare wide praise from lawmakers, were misleading.

In calculating the agency’s rate of improper payments, Medicare officials told outside auditors to ignore government policies that would have accurately measured fraud, according to the report. For example, auditors were told not to compare invoices from salespeople against doctors’ records, as required by law, to make sure that medical equipment went to actual patients.

As a result, Medicare did not detect that more than one-third of spending for wheelchairs, oxygen supplies and other medical equipment in its 2006 fiscal year was improper, according to the report. Based on data in other Medicare reports, that would be about $2.8 billion in improper spending.

That same year, Medicare officials told Congress that they had succeeded in driving down the cost of fraud in medical equipment to $700 million.

Some lawmakers and Congressional staff members say the irregularities that the inspector general found were tantamount to corruption and raise broader questions about the credibility of other Medicare figures.

“This is outrageous,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, who has repeatedly credited the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with reducing improper expenditures. “If heads don’t roll, you can’t change the culture of this organization,” he added.

Senator Grassley had not yet received the full report from the inspector general but had been briefed on its contents.

The report — a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times — will probably be made public within the next week, according to federal officials. The inspector general may change or edit the findings of the report before it is officially released. Congressional staff said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — the agency overseeing Medicare — was lobbying the inspector to play down the report’s conclusions.

A spokesman for Medicare said that the agency agreed with the inspector general that the agency’s reported level of improper billing for durable medical equipment, or D.M.E., should have been higher. But Medicare says the $2.8 billion figure is unsupported.

“Allegations of manipulation of this error rate are preposterous,” said the spokesman, Jeff Nelligan. “The agency has aggressively targeted fraud and improper payments in the D.M.E. program. We have a history of working closely with the inspector general and will continue to do so.”

A representative of the Office of Inspector General that created the report — part of Medicare’s parent, the Department of Health and Human Services — said it did not comment on draft reports.

Fraudulent and improper payments have long bedeviled Medicare, a $466 billion program. In particular, payments for durable medical equipment, like power wheelchairs and diabetic test kits, are ripe for fraud.

Equipment sellers have submitted counterfeit documents, forged doctors’ signatures and filed claims on behalf of patients who were dead or had never been seen by the prescribing physician, according to many reports by government oversight agencies.

For example, a Florida businessman was sentenced last year to 37 months in prison for submitting more than $5.5 million of fake claims to Medicare. The businessman operated for months, despite giving the agency an address that was actually a utility closet.

On July 1, Medicare instituted a new competitive bidding system that officials said would reduce both fraud and costs for medical equipment.

On July 15, however, Congress suspended the program, after equipment manufacturers and sellers began an aggressive lobbying campaign.

Senator Grassley said Congress might push for an investigation into the private company that was hired to fulfill Medicare’s auditing program, the AdvanceMed Corporation, a division of the Computer Sciences Corporation. The report mentions AdvanceMed by name.

Representatives of AdvanceMed did not return calls. The company has received contracts worth more than $34 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since 2005.

“This report doesn’t surprise me,” said Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California and a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee. He has pushed to cut improper Medicare spending. “To look better to the public, you cook the books,” he said. “This agency is incompetent.”

The Office of Inspector General’s report details scrutiny of a program known as Comprehensive Error Rate Testing, or CERT, that audits a sample of Medicare claims submitted by sellers of durable medical equipment. That program is supposed to randomly choose claims and review the medical records and other documents supporting submitted claims to determine whether payment is justified.

According to the inspector general’s report, officials at Medicare instructed AdvanceMed to disregard those policies. Instead, AdvanceMed was told to examine only the documents submitted by the companies selling the medical equipment, rather than verify those documents against physicians’ records.

Medicare reported to Congress that, for the fiscal year of 2006, AdvanceMed’s investigations had found that only 7.5 percent of claims paid by Medicare were not supported by appropriate documentation. But the inspector general’s review indicated that the actual error rate was closer to 31.5 percent.
For instance, according to the report, the Office of Inspector General examined a claim for an electric wheelchair that AdvanceMed had said was appropriate. The inspector general’s investigation revealed that the physician who was listed as having prescribed the wheelchair had no knowledge of the prescription.

The person who received the wheelchair said that he had never met with the physician, that he did not need a wheelchair and that he had never used it, according to the report. His wife had also received a wheelchair that she had not asked for and never used.

Equipment sellers can pocket more than $2,500 every time they send a powered wheelchair to a patient and bill Medicare.

“This is like letting the fox guard the henhouse,” said Malcolm Sparrow, a Harvard University professor who focuses on health care fraud. “The supplier has an incentive to supply fabricated documents or to imply that medical records support a purchase when they don’t. If you don’t ask the physician or ask for medical records, you can’t really verify anything.”

Why do Fraudulent Providers still exist ? Becasue they can?

Our Government and Lobbyists & FInancial Investment Firms at work, once again!!
That is the real answer. But maybe, for starters, we need to connect dots to the BIG POLICY MAKERS and their connection to FRAUD,i.e. Frist, Bush, Rainwater & Moore!

Go to the NCFE trial in Dublin, Ohio that DOJ would like to behave as this case is over, while the Co-Founder and a 3uear EXECUTIVE, James K Happ, has yet to go to trial? Now , you ask how this is connected........??????
http://biggerthanenron.blogspot.com

Now wwhy do you think this is?"...states submitted incomplete data or reported not taking any action against health care providers in 2004 and 2005."

"...In violation of federal law, states routinely fail to notify federal authorities when they've kicked health care providers out of their Medicaid programs for incompetence, fraud and other reasons,..."

"...61 percent of the 4,319 sanctions imposed by state Medicaid agencies in 2004 and 2005 could not be found in the federal database."


"...two states that suspended the largest number of providers, New York and Florida, had the lowest matching rates,21 percent and 9 percent respectively."



WASHINGTON — In violation of federal law, states routinely fail to notify federal authorities when they've kicked health care providers out of their Medicaid programs for incompetence, fraud and other reasons, government investigators have found.

The lack of notice makes it easier for barred providers to set up shop in other states and to continue getting payments from federal health programs.

The inspector general for the Health and Human Services Department maintains the list of health care providers prohibited from getting any federal health reimbursements. Last year, the IG's office added 3,308 people and organizations to that database, but probably could have added many more, according to a survey that investigators conducted recently.

Investigators surveyed the states to find out how often their Medicaid programs sanction a provider in a way that would in the vast majority of cases merit a spot in the IG's exclusion database. An astounding 61 percent of the 4,319 sanctions imposed by state Medicaid agencies in 2004 and 2005 could not be found in the federal database.
States with high match rates tended to be states that took action against more than 100 health care providers, though that wasn't always the case. Alabama, Louisiana and Texas had the highest match rates. More than 80 percent of the providers suspended from their state Medicaid programs could be found on the national list.
However, the two states that suspended the largest number of providers, New York and Florida, had the lowest matching rates, 21 percent and 9 percent respectively.

About a dozen states submitted incomplete data or reported not taking any action against health care providers in 2004 and 2005. Among them were California and Michigan, two states with large Medicaid populations.

Jeff Nelligan, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency agrees there's room to increase the number of referrals from the states. It will "strive to reduce the barriers that may currently exist," he added.

In all, 47 states responded to the survey. State officials frequently said they were unclear about what kind of information was supposed to be forwarded to the HHS inspector general.

"It would be handy to have a little cheat sheet that clearly stated refer these cases with this info," an unidentified state official wrote.

Another state official wrote that until they had responded to the inspector general's survey, "no coordinated effort existed ... to make referrals."

Reasons for exclusion from federal health programs include convictions for fraud and patient abuse, licensing board sanctions and default on federal health education loans. Under law, no federal payment can be made for anything that an excluded person furnishes, orders or prescribes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080812/health-fraud/

US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen rejects Medicare fraud remedy....

You wonder why?
"...fraud seems to be a major industry in South Florida..."
"...billions of dollars defrauded from Medicare...."
"...Ros-Lehtinen has banked $180,000 from Big Pharma and HMOs."



NOW Commect the dots to FINANCIAL & HEALTHCARE FRAUD!
JUST LOOK AT THE TRIAL, dubbed by Fed Prosecutors as Largest Private Fraud Case in the history of America:

Poulsen was president, chairman, chief executive officer and an owner of Dublin, Ohio-based NCFE, one of the largest healthcare finance companies in the United States until it filed for bankruptcy in November 2002.

After the witness tampering indictment was returned, Poulsen’s fraud trial was severed from the other NCFE defendants. Poulsen will face the fraud charges at trial scheduled to begin Oct. 1, 2008. Demmler's sentencing date has not yet been set. Both men have been in custody since their arrests.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Squires and Trial Attorneys Leo Wise and Nathan Dimock of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was investigated by the FBI.


Go to: http://biggerthanenron.blogspot.com


Tuesday, August 12, 2008
US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen rejects Medicare fraud remedy
The Miami Herald is outdoing itself lately with investigations. As the staff shrinks, will the good work still have a chance to continue? The answer will have telling effect on our civic culture, and on the jail population. Fewer crooks will be incarcerated if the Herald isn’t able to keep on exposing fraud.



In fact, fraud seems to be a major industry in South Florida. Look at two of our most important economic sectors:

· Real estate. Mortgage fraud on all sides has been exposed in the Herald as a reason for the steep rise of home prices a few years ago and now the drop. This was accomplished by our neighbors the bankers, mortgage brokers, borrowers and lenders. Working together and individually to get rich like good Americans or just to be housed, they came close to wrecking the whole national economy. Rampant was the word the Herald used to characterize the level of mortgage fraud.

· Health care. Now the Herald has chronicled billions of dollars defrauded from Medicare – that’s from our pockets, fellow citizens – by our neighbors, the fraudsters. This was billions annually in South Florida, not the whole country. An incredible haul. Perhaps it explains the big houses and fancy yachts in our splendid part of the land.

And what is the remedy? Congress! At least in the case of Medicare fraud. So it says on the front page of Monday’s Herald. Headline: Fraud Remedy Denied.

Headlines often are written in the passive voice without full verb forms. Let’s do a little exercise here and put this in the active voice. Congress Denied Fraud Remedy.

As the Herald’s Jay Weaver reported exhaustively, the Medicare agency tried repeatedly for more money to combat fraud, and Congress always throttled the attempt. Weaver shows fine enterprise in interviewing two local members of Congress to delve into the reasons.

Interestingly, Republican Sen. Mel Martinez is on the good side (first-termer behavior?) of this issue, and is backing legislation to stop fraud. He says $1 invested in anti-fraud measures will yield $10 in fraud-reduction, the Herald reports.

Then Weaver turns to my congresswoman, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, FL-18, in the U.S. House since 1989, and she speaks out of both sides of her Republican mouth. Medicare needs help to fight fraud, but it’s risky for lawmakers to give money to an agency recognized for incompetence, she says:


“If you increase the money for oversight, then it looks like you’re fattening up the bureaucracy, even when it’s really for oversight and fighting fraud,” she said. “It’s a difficult choice.”

She then chose according to the ideology of small-government-is-best, and voted against it.

Perhaps it’s not ideology. Campaign donations could be another motivation. And thanks to research from the Florida Democratic Party, we have some detail on Ros-Lehtinen’s connection to Medicare fraud via past donations for her re-election.

From an FDP news release last week:


“In 1998, the largest home health care provider in South Florida was charged with bilking Medicare for more than $45 million in fake services. The company's founder had been a donor to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's campaign for re-election to Congress.

“Congress did have the opportunity to fight back against Medicare fraud before it reached crisis proportions, but Ros-Lehtinen voted against allowing Congress to pursue its Constitutionally-mandated oversight role. In 1995, she voted for the so-called Medicare Preservation Act (HR 2421, Roll Call 731, 1995). The Act that Ros-Lehtinen voted for "crippled the efforts of law enforcement agencies to control health-care fraud abuse in the Medicare program," according to the then-inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Even then, Ros-Lehtinen voted with the Republican Party line and against the best interest of the people of her district, a pattern that continues almost 15 years later.”


The FDP release reports that Ros-Lehtinen has banked $180,000 from Big Pharma and HMOs.
The charge:


“Ros-Lehtinen is either complicit or easily bamboozled, but any way you cut it she has no business representing South Florida in the United States Congress,” said Eric Jotkoff, FDP spokesman.

http://eyeonileana.blogspot.com/2008/08/us-rep-ileana-ros-lehtinen-rejects.html