FBI raid shutters Medicare insurer (WellCare - formerly owned by George Soros)

St. Petersburg Times ^ | 10/25/07 | Kris Hundley

[wagglebee]

For the past two years, analysts have been asking how fast-growing WellCare Health Plans of Tampa has been able to make so much money running government health plans for the poor and elderly. Now government investigators may be asking the same thing.

On a rainy Wednesday morning, more than 200 federal and state agents swarmed WellCare's campus on Henderson Road in Tampa, forcing employees onto the sidewalk and into their cars.

Steven Meitzen, 51, who arrived at WellCare about 9:40 a.m. for a job interview, said he was initially told it was a bomb scare. "Later on, I talked to someone who said the FBI had a subpoena and were looking for records," he said.

By midday, the complex's parking garages were half-empty, but federal agents remained busy. They were still milling around WellCare's buildings in the early evening; a Ryder truck was backed up to a loading dock.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa said little about the search, which involved personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Florida attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The search warrant is sealed.

Both federal and state officials, however, said that the investigation should have no impact on delivery of health care to the more than 2.3-million members of WellCare's managed care plans.

The company's customers are about evenly divided between Medicare and Medicaid plans. WellCare is the largest Medicaid provider in Florida, with more than 350,000 members. The company also offers Medicare Advantage plans to seniors in seven states and a stand-alone drug plan nationwide.

The timing of the raid could be detrimental as WellCare is in the midst of convincing seniors to sign up for its 2008 plans.

WellCare issued a release saying that it was cooperating with authorities and that essential services to members would remain uninterrupted. Though its customer service number was working Wednesday, WellCare's Web site was replaced with a notice saying, "We're sorry, but something went wrong. We've been notified about this issue and we'll take a look at it shortly."

The company, which went public in July 2004 at $17 a share, has had a meteoric rise, with its stock more than doubling in the past 12 months. On Wednesday, WellCare's shares dropped $6.77 or 5.5 percent, to $115.50 before trading was halted about 11 a.m. It ended the day down $7.10 at $115.17.

FTN Midwest analyst Peter Costa downgraded his rating on WellCare stock to "sell" from "neutral" on Wednesday, citing the search. Costa said the investigation appeared to be a criminal one.

"Criminal investigations are harder to prove, likely to be more company specific and carry stiffer penalties, including being barred from doing business with the government if it is for fraud, which it most likely is given the departments involved," Costa said in a research note.

Thomas Carroll, analyst with Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore, called the raid "ominous" and downgraded WellCare shares to "sell" from "hold" in a note to clients. Contacts within the company said BlackBerries, computers and files were seized from corporate, marketing and human resources offices, according to Carroll.

Carroll suspects the raid is potentially the result of a lawsuit in which an employee brought a matter to the attention of authorities.

"When the FBI and HHS raid a health care company, the outlook on earnings, legal proceedings and the entire operations of the company can be questioned," Carroll said.

WellCare's business practices have come under increased criticism over the past several months. Last spring, the company said independent sales agents in Georgia enrolled dead people in Medicare plans. In May and June, WellCare representatives appeared along with other insurance executives at hearings in the Senate and House into aggressive Medicare marketing practices. WellCare and six other insurers subsequently agreed to a temporary halt in marketing one type of Medicare plan, while promising to initiate consumer safeguards. In August, however, Medicare cited WellCare once again for violating several provisions of its Medicare contract, including sales practices.

WellCare, which had earnings of $139.2-million in 2006, gets all of its nearly $4-billion in revenues from state or federal governments. Profits come from the difference between the amount received from the government and the amount spent on overhead and medical care for its members.

The company routinely has outperformed its competition; for the quarter ending in June, the company said just 80.8 percent of its revenue was spent on medical claims, down from 82.7 percent a year ago.

WellCare's high margins have had analysts scratching their heads. In April, two Wall Street analysts said Florida in particular was too generous in its Medicaid reimbursement to WellCare. The analysts, with CIBC World Markets and Goldman Sachs & Co., were particularly critical of WellCare's use of a subsidiary in the Cayman Islands for reinsurance, saying it allowed the company to shift money in the form of reinsurance premiums.

WellCare said its reinsurance arrangement had been approved by stateregulators and rejected claims it was overpaid.

Florida Medicaid payments were raised 7.5 percent in July, to an average of $215 per member per month. Cuts of about 1.5 percent could be on the way in January, however, if Gov. Charlie Crist approves recommendations made during the recent special legislative session.

Medicare reimbursements average about $800 per member per month and will increase 3.5 percent next year. Because the federal government wanted to encourage private insurers to offer Medicare plans, it pays about 12 percent more for seniors on private plans than it does for traditional Medicare.

WellCare was a slow-growing Florida company until 1992 when its owner, Dr. Kiran Patel, sold it to a New York investment group led by financier George Soros. The bankers hired Todd Farha, an aggressive Harvard MBA, to transform the company. Under his leadership, WellCare's earnings have increased eight-fold and the company's investors and executives like Farha have profited handsomely from appreciation in its stock.

In an interview last year, Farha credited WellCare's success with hard work, attractive member benefits and close attention to the basics. But he has also nurtured the kinds of relationships invaluable to a company dependent on government funding.

WellCare and its affiliates have given the Republican Party of Florida some $105,000 in contributions this year, according to state election records. They've also given the Florida Democratic Party $5,000 this year. In 2006, WellCare's PAC gave $66,000 to federal candidates, all Republicans.

And the company's board has included the head of the Florida agency that oversees Medicaid, Dr. Andrew Agwunobi. Agwunobi was a director for six months before being picked to head the Agency for Health Care Administration. For his six months service on WellCare's board, Agwunobi received stock, which he sold for more than $1-million.

Current WellCare board members include former Florida Sen. Bob Graham and Ruben King-Shaw, former head of Florida's health agency and an ex-deputy chief at Medicare.

[floriduh voter]

More Fla news: Nancy Grant still owes approx. $29K in December. I hope she has a benefactor.

http://www.libertysentinel.org/issue/2007-10/grandma.html

[floriduh voter]

Well, in Florida anyway, Medicaid Fraud contributed to the killing of Terri Schiavo. Otherwise, I would accept fraud and abuse as the norm in the Medicaid system.

[Lesforlife]

National RTL is becoming irrelevant as this WND article quote points out. They are a pathetic lot who are more interested in their place at the table and maintaining the status quo then they are stopping the slaughter! The personhood wing of the pro-life movement is on the rise. The child killing regulators don't get it.

"Muise said the Bopp memo can be summed up with, "They fear losing at the risk of winning."

"We must never forget that ending all abortions is the ultimate goal," he responded. "Protecting innocent human life is not negotiable. … It would be a tragic mistake to be content with a strategy that makes ending abortion secondary to other regulatory efforts, or worse yet, a strategy that avoids it altogether," he said.

"We are in this fight to win, not to go on in perpetuity, content with an occasional 'honorable mention,'" he said.

"A case must be presented to the United States Supreme Court that challenges the central premise of Roe – that the unborn is not a person within the meaning of the law," he added.'

To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57888

[Sun]

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-parade1nov11,0,6518048.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines

What an incredible life Monsignor Malanowski has and will have - this wonderful priest who prayed with Terri.

[Sun]

It’s as if a cloud is over everybody’s brain.

Pat Robinson endorses Rudy.

A couple of religious leaders endorse Romney, when there are other candidates who have done so much for the pro-life cause, and have been doing so for many, many years.

Brownback, who is great on the pro-life issues, endorses McCain:

This about McCain:

“Hyde, who has criticized McCain for advocating weakening of the Republican Party’s pro-life platform plank.

Pro-abortion leaders also see a big difference. Following McCain’s win in the New Hampshire primary, the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition said that based on exit polls, “pro-choice Republicans overwhelmingly preferred McCain above all the other candidates.”’

excerpt from: http://www.peopleforlife.org/mccainthreatensprolife.html

[8mmMauser]

It seems whenever Randall Terry's name comes up, not only do the pro-euthanasia enthusiasts jump on him, but he is picked upon by those who should be supporters but are glued with myopia to mistakes of the past. Recall, Randall Terry was an early pioneer in the eighties and was an avid fan of Ronald Reagan and sought to emulate him. Here is Randall Terry's recent effort.

....................................

“For those who don’t know the pro-life movement is very fragmented. It’s a tragedy; we must have a new generation that appreciates all of the facets and appreciates that we are an army; and an army has medics, chaplains, people that charge the bullets, generals, and privates.”
Randall Terry

LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, former Christian minister, and recent convert to the Catholic Faith, came to Christendom College last Thursday to make an impassioned appeal to the Christendom student body, asking them to become the second generation of pro-life leaders and surpass the courage and efforts of the first.

“I am here to recruit you in order that we can train you, in order that we can unleash you as a weapon in the hand of God right into the enemy’s camp of child killing,” Terry said to students.

“Fr. Pavone and I are the youngest of the first generation of pro-life leaders. Pro-life leaders are dying and retiring, people. Slowly and surely they are retiring and dying,” Terry told the assembled audience in the Chapel crypt. “There is a massive leadership void, but we cannot afford to have the new leadership be even more timid than the first generation of leaders. We need leadership that is marked by courage.”

~Snip~

“I am not asking you to come and get arrested in front of an abortion clinic. I am asking you to get trained,” Terry emphasized. “The polling data shows your generation is 10 times more pro-life than your parents. All we have to do is train you and unleash you, and we will win.”

Jack Ames of Defend Life, who accompanied students to protest the killing of Terri Schiavo in 2005 encouraged Christendom students to come to the Operation Rescue XX rally in Philadelpia on Thanksgiving Weekend.

Randall Terry Adresses Christendom College Students

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[8mmMauser]

Interesting about Randall Terry above juxtaposed against NRTL. Something I have noticed over the years is that groups form with best of intentions and are infiltrated by their own masked trolls, intent upon subverting and modifying. It is not drastic usurpation, but subtle change so as to decapitate the effort without members or public hardly noticing. Any leaders willing to compromise rather than stick to absolute values are vulnerable and that takes strong leaders like Fr. Pavone and Randall Terry to keep their organizations truly pure.

When it comes to compromised organizations, I would rather face open opposition than a group posing as my friend.

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[8mmMauser]

Well, Well, Mel

Martinez took what were once 2-to-1 approval ratings -- the likes of which his Democratic counterpart, Bill Nelson, still has -- and managed to irritate just as many people as he pleased. Even within his own party, a majority of Republicans couldn't bring themselves to give him a thumbs up.

It's hard to blame the poor showing on any one thing from the past three years. There was his unpopular stance for government intervention in the Terri Schiavo case and the way his office was caught trying to politicize the tragedy. There was his immigration stance, his war votes, his agreeing to run the Republican National Committee. He was a veritable cornucopia of controversy, offering something for most everyone to dislike.

Mel's at his best putting people before party

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[8mmMauser]

Although pained to post the negative attacks on Terri's Legacy, I try to remember Terri's Legacy is kept prominent by those very detractors in spirit of the Hamlet classic, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." So here the lefties attack Hannity.

Hannity’s feelings about minorities aren’t exactly reverential and as such he cited HR 2358 which requires the mint to issue coins in commemoration of Native Americans. He did not note that two sponsors were Republicans and that the bill passed the House and Senate on a bipartisan basis. (Comment: for waste of the public’s time and money, see Terry Schiavo!!!) During this last rant, Hannity once again referred to the “congress of the San Francisco Speaker.”

Hannity’s America – Damned Lies

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[8mmMauser]

Fred and Terri tar baby dailies...

Fred and Terri and NRTL and odd bedfellows are coming to focus.

FV????

................................

Thompson is at odds with the NRLC on right-to-die issues as well. NRLC, the largest pro-life organization in the country, was highly visible during that incredibly prolonged and painful tug-of-war between the parents of Terri Schiavo and her husband, who argued that his wife would not want to be kept alive by artificial means if there was no chance she would regain consciousness on her own. Thompson seemed to not know where he was on the issue when first asked about it, but more recently indicated that the matter was too personal for him to talk casually about.

WH '08: Think Of The Cup As Overfloweth-ing

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[8mmMauser]

Death enthusiasts can't take a joke. Thread by wagglebee on what happens in the UK when a doctor tells some truth...

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-life doctor in England is coming under fire for having the temerity to suggest to women considering an abortion that they should rethink their decision in light of the medical and mental health problems they cause. Now British officials who monitor doctors are investigating her practice.

Dr. Tammie Downes, a family physician, says at least eight women are grateful to her after she told them they should reconsider their abortion decisions. They have given birth to children they adore.

However, Downes is under investigation by the General Medical Council for potentially violating the nation's guidelines on handling abortion.

British Officials Investigate Doctor for Urging Women to Rethink Abortion

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[8mmMauser]

Abortion and cancer in a thread by wagglebee...

November 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mainstream media have again almost totally ignored a new study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons that found that abortion is the "best predictor of breast cancer" in eight European nations.

One notable exception to this media black-out however is an article by Dennis Byrne of the Chicago Tribune, who wrote a commentary entitled, "Snubbing cancer study will only hurt women: Research showing link to abortion ignored by media."

Media Ignore Major Insurance Report Stating Abortion is "best predictor of breast cancer"

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[Dante3]

Kevorkian will receive $50,000 for a speech at the University of Florida. Not bad for somebody who was too ill to be kept in prison. What can he tell the students that is worth this amount and is not available in the library or the Internet? Sounds more like a means of funneling money to him.

[Sun]

“Randall Terry above juxtaposed against NRTL.”

Glad to hear that.

My husband and I used to contribute to them, but stopped a number of years ago, because of various things.

In my area, a man was running for the state assembly, so I called him at his home and asked him his position on abortion. He told me that he “respected” my position (which is what they all say), but was pro-”choice.”

THEN a few days later, I received a flyer from the NRTL in my area ENDORSING this man. So I called the RTL Committee, and finally got to their spokesperson who said the man responsible for putting out the flyers made a foolish mistake.

Between their mistakes, and less than perfect commitment to the life issue, we won’t be contributing to them again.

[floriduh voter]

National Right to Life isn’t really entitled to use that name, eh? At this point in time, their name is fatally flawed.

[TChris]

George Soros is an enemy of the United States. The government ought to treat him as one. After all, they have sworn oaths along those lines, have they not?

Soros should be in prison or six feet under for treason.

[floriduh voter]

Angel flitting around customers at Ohio gas station? Check out this story and videography.

http://www.local6.com/news/14578641/detail.html

[8mmMauser]

Fred and Terri tar baby dailies...

Lots of updates poured in on Fred and Terri today, because of the puzzling endorsement by NRTL. The first is from Human Events.

Some had guessed NRLC would choose staunchly pro-life underdog candidate Mike Huckabee but O’Steen said Thompson “stood out” as the clear choice. Though Thompson has clashed with the NRLC regarding rules on the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance issue, O’ Steen said the NRLC views this disagreement as incomparable to the lives of unborn children being saved.

NRLC also represents opposition to any form of euthanasia and Thompson received criticism in September when he was unable to give a clear opinion on the controversial case of Terri Schiavo, who was critically brain damaged and was starved to death after prolonged court proceedings and attempted congressional intervention. O’ Steen said Thompson spoke with NRTL committee members and “clarified” that “where the family is divided, the benefit of the doubt should be given to life.”

NRLC Thompson Endorsement Splits Social Conservatives Even More

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[8mmMauser]

Fred and Terri tar baby dailies 2...

This is from the Associated Press, hence, the MSM euthanasia euphemism, "right to die".

Thompson has been at odds with the group because he doesn't support a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion, a long-standing party platform plank; because he has called the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case a family matter; and because he backed campaign finance regulations that the group considers a restriction of free speech.

Right to Life Says Fred Thompson Can Win

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[8mmMauser]

Fred and Terri tar baby dailies 3...

From the Boston Globe:

Thompson has been at odds with the group because he doesn't support a federal constitutional amendment outlawing abortion; because he has called the Terri Schiavo case a family matter; and because he backed campaign finance regulations that the group considers a restriction of free speech.

Thompson urges million-member ground force for military

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