Medicaid FRAUD and abuse! State of Florida needs to be looked into about this fraud.
This has to be a Medicaid fraud and abuse situation. I know of several people who had to divorce their spouse to have Medicaid kick in. Otherwise, the medical care would have taken every dime they had and then some. Why didn't Medicaid make the husband spend the cash settlement on the medical bills? Why wasn't he responsible for all those bills? If he could afford a girlfriend and two extra kids, he could have paid the medical bills.
The state of Florida should charge the husband with murder and take charge of the body when she dies as evidence. The case would be extremely difficult, but at least some of the facts could be ascertained.
Hospice of the Florida Suncoast is currently under federal investigation for just that.
From the article -
According to records The Empire Journal has obtained from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency has initiated collection procedures against the Hospice of Florida Suncoast to recover some $14.8 million which they say was unlawfully paid to the hospice as a result of fraudulent claims made for Medicare reimbursement for patients that were not terminally ill and therefore not eligible for hospice care. According to the 2004 annual report of HHS filed Dec.31, 2004, the agency has initiated collection procedures against the hospice.
The federal agency has been trying to recover the Medicare overpayments made to the hospice since May, 1997 at the time when Felos was chairman of the board.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted an audit of the Hospice of Florida Suncoast Inc. during 1995. The objective of the review was to evaluate hospice eligibility determinations for beneficiaries that remained in hospice care more than 120 days. OIG also determined the amount of payments made to the hospice for those Medicare beneficiaries that did not meet the Medicare reimbursement requirements.