Rick Scott made his millions on the backs of sick people.

[madfloridian]

I crossposted this in the General Discussion forum as well.

I can't believe this guy is neck and neck with Crist. He seems immune to even fraud complaints.

From 2009

Who Is Richard Scott— and Why Is He Saying These Things about Health Care Reform?

From the author:

Much of the story below is adapted from my book: Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Healthcare Costs So Much. There, you will find copious footnotes documenting the facts.

When Scott got into the hospital business his medical experience was limited to helping health care companies buy and sell each other. A mergers and acquisitions lawyer from Dallas, Scott had worked on deals involving radio stations and fast-food businesses before zeroing in how just how much money could be made by acquiring hospitals.

....The frugality carried over the Columbia/HCA’s hospitals. “Gloves rip easily,” complained hospital workers in Florida. In California, some nurses protested “filthy conditions” and being “stretched to the limit as the hospital slashed the ratio of nurses to patients”

“I sometimes had to watch 72 patients heart monitors at a time,” one nurse reported. “I was told, either do it, or there’s the door.” In Indianapolis nurses complained to state authorities that babies in the neonatal unit were left unattended for as long as three hours.

Three years after Rick Scott became CEO of Columbia/HCA, the FBI began investigating the group in five states.

The investigation revealed that the hospital chain had been bilking Medicare while simultaneously handing over kickbacks and perks to physicians who steered patients to its hospitals. One can only wonder how many of those patients really needed to be hospitalized—and how many were harmed. The company did not fight the charges. In 2000, HCA (which by then had expunged “Columbia” from its name) pleaded guilty to no fewer than 14 felonies. Over the next two years, it would pay a total of $1.7 billion in criminal and civil fines.

Scott was invited to leave the company.

More on Columbia/HCA:

http://www.uow.edu.au/~bmartin/dissent/documents/health/columb_cult.html#Scott%27s

Richard Scott & Thomas Frist
Columbia/HCA Leaders and Culture

Many of the fraudulent practices which characterised Columbia/HCA originated in HCA, allegedly as far back as 1984.

While Frist was a ruthless and successful businessman he was relatively low key. He maintained better relations with the community. Standards of care seem to have been maintained.

"The company is continuing a series of changes led by chairman and chief executive officer Thomas Frist. Columbia doctors and employees say Frist's low-key style differs dramatically from the bold and acquisition-minded strategy led by Richard Scott, who was ousted as CEO last month after federal agents raided dozens of Columbia hospitals, offices and affiliated businesses. Illinois Joins Columbia/HCA Probes The New York Times August 29, 1997"

The link is a long compilation of quotes from various articles. Here are a few from various sources.

Scott, a lawyer with no health care experience before Columbia, talked of hospital care like a factory foreman, referring to diseases as "product lines.'' Whether "admitting patients or making a radio,'' he wrote, by eliminating errors "you dramatically reduce costs.''

"One of my favorite books is `Behind The Golden Arches,' the history of building McDonald's,'' he wrote. "McDonald's knows that ... great companies take these ideas and share them and implement them across their markets.''

In the spirit of McDonald's, Scott launched in a nationwide branding campaign designed to make Columbia's name equally prevalent, spending millions of dollars in advertising and adding ``Columbia'' to hospital titles. He wrote that hospitals, including Columbia, "have failed to differentiate themselves in the minds of patients, employers, insurance companies and the government.'' E-Mail Reveals Columbia-HCA Leader The New York Times September 10, 1997

More:

Success made Scott increasingly arrogant and increasingly blind to any criticisms or advice. Frist increasingly found his advice ignored. He was side lined. He was more and more alarmed at Scott's conduct as community anger and hostility built up against the company. He considered retiring. Quite early on Rainwater's wife warned Frist and Rainwater about what was happening but the company was making money and no one would act.

...When the FBI raided the company in March 1997 Scott was dismissive and arrogant and played down the problems. He was clearly out of touch and did not believe that the company had done anything wrong. He saw only his own point of view and rationalised his position. This was a company where 30 employees had commenced Qui tam court actions and which would eventually pay out US $1.7 billion.

Scott was fired.

Scott is fired

Even when the FBI raided 30 hospitals across the USA in July 1997 he refused to accept the seriousness of the situation and the board was forced to fire him. Frist then set out to recover the situation.

The corporate roof began caving in on July 16, when federal agents served more than 30 warrants at current and former Columbia facilities in six states.

That evening, Scott appeared on the CNN national business program "Moneyline" and dismissed the company's problems as unimportant. He called federal investigations such as the one his company was undergoing "a matter of fact in healthcare today."

It was the most public example of Scott's arrogance and miscalculation. And it would be the last.
--------------------

The board moves. Early the week of July 21, it was clear to board members that Scott didn't understand. It was over, they told him. THE RISE AND FALL: DESPITE YEARS OF WARNINGS FROM COLLEAGUES, THE AGGRESSIVE AND OFTEN ARROGANT LEADERSHIP OF RICHARD SCOTT WOULD LEAD TO COLUMBIA'S TURMOIL Modern Healthcare Sep. 8, 1997

Then he became governor of Florida, and for some inexplicable reason is neck and neck in the polls with a former governor who really did care about his state.

God help Florida if he wins

[shenmue]

1. I worked at HCA after he left

It was still a mess.

This prick should be in jail.

[djean111]

2. Scott did not do anything that the GOP does not admire the fuck out of.

They are quite cold-bloodedly capable of saying we should abolish Medicaid because of fraud, and defrauding Medicaid.
They can hold what seem to be opposing views in the same lizard brain, as long as the those views both make them money, and cheat other people out of money and health care. If they could steal all the Social Security money and then abolish Social Security, they would. They don't care about the older people, they only care about MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.

This is why all the Christie is toast stuff does not resonate with me - the GOP genuflects to lying cheating bullies.
If the only Dem campaign game is to point out GOP malfeasance - that may energize Dems, but will not sway RWers one little bit.
Remember, if politics were software, what Dems call a bug, the GOP calls a feature. Design political campaigns around that, if possible!