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.

[wagglebee]

MSM kept telling the lie, that Terri was PVS, when he was NOT. I heard it every hour, or more, on the radio.

A lot of them tried to advance the lie that Terri was "brain dead" and more than a few FReepers (thankfully most have been banned) repeated it here along with the lie that her brain had turned to "mush" (all the while they were unable to grasp the FACT that two weeks without hydration is certain to have a negative effect on brain matter).

[floriduh voter]

And 100% of the time, a deceased person will be blind and have a flat eeg. George Stupidopolous omitted that his latest info was frm the autopsy. The MSM knows a large segment of the population will believe anything they see on tv,whether’s it’s Jerry Springer or Keith Olbermann.

[floriduh voter]

If an accident victim in a coma is at the VA, will the VA file a lien against Hulk Hogan’s insurance, etc.? I don’t know how the VA handles accident cases.

[Sun]

“they were unable to grasp the FACT that two weeks without hydration is certain to have a negative effect on brain matter).”

And even after Terri supporters throughly explained to them the truth, it was too late, because they were already BRAINWASHED. How very sad.

[8mmMauser]

“He who stoops to conquer conquers stupes...” Pogo, as I recall.

If Terri’s Legacy were not such a threat to them, they, MSM, would start to ignore it by now. They haven’t so I guess they fear Terri.

[8mmMauser]

What I said above...

[8mmMauser]

Fred and Terri tar baby dailies....

This topic has moved into the realm of a Class A propaganda piece like some other anti-Terri mantras. More of same, but still echoing the refrain, the MSM saw the potential of this gaffe from the very beginning and will not let go. Contribution today comes from the Oregonian, a paper I once found useful for starting campfires.

Abortion: Says he doesn't support a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion and has called the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case a family matter. Even so, he has won the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion group. Says: "I would never support anything that supported or encouraged abortion."

Thompson: On the issues

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[8mmMauser]

I just might miss this one...

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

Beginning with a plot point similar to the Terry Schiavo case, Bennett's "The Gift" shows us the shattered psyche of a man who has been forced to shut off the feeding tube of his wife.

From the get-go, "The Gift" shows us what a tremendous gift to Richard (Cory Reeder) was the life of his beloved, Janie (Sarah Elizabeth Boros) – and, now that she's gone, how thoroughly she haunts him, in nightmares as well as in waking dreams.

The story begins immediately after Janie's burial, then picks up four months later, at Christmastime, as he begins to come out of his shell. Visiting a new exhibit of abstract paintings by best friend Harry (Scheel), sculptor Richard re-visits the bathroom of Harry's house – the room where he first met Janie nearly 15 years ago.

Moving back and forth in time between the present, the months following Janie's death, and Richard and Janie's first meeting and married life, "The Gift" shows the impact just one person can have upon others.

'Visitations' delivers a twist for the holidays

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[8mmMauser]

This guy makes a good case for liberalism as a disease. I hope the poor guy gulps some good medicine and lays off the Kool Aid for awhile.

He says, "All I want for Christmas Is hope," when a little helping of Faith just may do some good.

Further digressing (but not really) . . . have you ever thought about the fact that the right wing hates abortion, and demands right-to-life legislation, but thinks nothing of funding wars which have killed tens of thousands of children in Iraq and Afghanistan, something which administration officials no longer can deny? Of course you have. Or that special kangaroo-court session of Congress which was called to pass “right-to-life, brain-dead” legislation in the midst of the Terry Schiavo circus, as you may recall, despite the fact that doctor after doctor (and this was later confirmed in the autopsy reports) said virtually no brain activity existed in the poor woman? She had no cognition of anything that was going on, false advocates included. Keeping her alive was mocking life, in my opinion, disregarding what life ought to be, and in effect refuting the idea of heaven and the rewards for the innocents that await after death. Still, it seemed distasteful to let her starve. But the doctors knew best. Politicians had no business involving themselves in the matter, especially not in special session, and making a political football out of the whole sordid affair.

What ghoulish hypocrites these right-wing congressmen revealed themselves to be. And still are. How does such personal deceit and impropriety go undetected and unchecked by so many of these aristocrats when it occurs within their own very much alive brains and souls?

All I want for Christmas Is hope

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[8mmMauser]

When I first heard the news, my first thoughts were those who drool over destroying human life have lost an excuse. They won't be happy, but will be furious. This thread is by ConservativeColumns with thanks to TheSarce for the ping.

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It appears as if it may soon become easier for lives to be saved without lives being destroyed. Great news, right?

You’d think so, but in the everything-is-partisan world in which we live, celebrations are limited to one side of the aisle.

Dr. James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin – the man who pioneered embryonic stem cell research even while harboring ethical misgivings about the destruction of life it required – is now reporting he may have found a way to get the same kinds of stem cells from adult skin.

If true, the debate is over. Those who object to the creation of life for the purpose of destroying it can rest assured that no such abomination is necessary. And those who want to press ahead with stem cell research in the pursuit of cures for horrible diseases will be able to do so.

Everybody wins! Oh, you silly. It’s never that easy, now is it?

Stem Cell Silence: Maybe Democrats Want to Destroy Embryos

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[8mmMauser]

This thread is all about overcoming an attitude some of us have seen for years and years and is testimony to the good in the hearts of many...

Thread by wagglebee.

But the hard part wasn't over as doctors then refused to feed her child and she had to threaten a medical malpractice lawsuit to get physicians to give Donna appropriate medical care.

"They were letting her starve to death," Vance said. "Now, thanks to Donna's notoriety, kids automatically get a feeding tube."

Disabled Teenager Celebrates 16th Birthday After Mom Refused Abortion

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[8mmMauser]

Awwww, NARAL doesn't like others using deceptive wording. How unfair...

Since they are the experts in deceptive wording, it galls them that others may try to "deceive" by telling truth.

Thread by wagglebee:

LOS ANGELES, November 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Human beings, being mammals, do not lay eggs. This fact, known to most school children, is frequently forgotten by those in the media reporting on advancements in embryo and cloning research. The latest example of media misrepresentation on embryo research comes from Saturday's Los Angeles Times which ran the headline, "Abortion opponents push for 'personhood' for eggs."

The Los Angeles Times reporter examines pending bills in several states that would confer legal personhood on the unborn child from the first moment of conception. Nicholas Riccardi cites efforts in Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana and Georgia to bring ballot initiatives forward that would recognise the existence of a human person from the moment of conception.

Riccardi quotes Belinda Bulger, deputy legal director for the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) who complained that the "type of language," in the Colorado ballot initiative is deceptive.

Embryologists to Media: There are no Such Things as Human "Fertilized Eggs"

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[8mmMauser]

After Sanger sung....

Thread by kathsua on Hitler and Darwin. Thanks to wagglebee for the ping.

Contrary to Weichers' claims and in full support of Steen's column, Nazi Germany under the tutelage of Adolph Hitler completely and totally supported the theory of Darwinian evolution as the basis for the superiority of the Aryan race. The Jews were looked down on as early stages of the evolution of the human race and not worthy of the esteemed progression of evolution of the Aryans. It was Hitler's desire to keep the gene pool unpolluted that led him to exterminate the Jews. That is also why no self-respecting Nazi would have sex with a Jew. Remember that Hitler also looked down on the blacks as inferior also.

Hitler wanted to selectively breed a purer Aryan race, and this was all based on the theory of evolution. This theory also gave him the "authority" to dominate other races. After all, Darwinian evolution is all about "survival of the fittest."

I have been to the museums in Germany that completely document this line of thought and experimentation. There are massive amounts of literature written by the Nazis that document their "proof" of the inferiority of the Jews and the superiority of Aryans. Numerous facial pictures are used to "prove" this evolution along with other data. ..............

Hitler and Darwin

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[8mmMauser]

Fred and Terri tar baby dailies...

Jill Stanek at WND on the Steponalluvus interview as excerpted:

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Nail 3

Likewise, Thompson thinks states should be free to legalize killing the disabled.

Stephanopoulos brought NRLC into the discussion:

David O'Steen of the National Right to Life Committee said one of the reasons they chose you is that you clarified your position on end-of-life issues, families facing the situation like the Terri Schiavo case. He said you clarified that issue for him and you may be doing so publicly. What did you say to them privately that you haven't said publicly? In public you've said this should be an issue for families and the courts but not state and federal governments.

The Stephen Douglas of the 2008 race

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[8mmMauser]

This just in from India...

........But as Terry Schiavo’s case in the US underlines, euthanasia will always have its supporters and detractors. Schiavo, who lived in Florida and was gravely ill, was allowed to die on March 31, 2005, seven years after her husband filed an appeal for the removal of her feeding tube. Her parents opposed the move — and Schiavo, even in death, became a symbol for the two warring sides.

Right to death

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[8mmMauser]

Pat Buchanan on Hannity...

BUCHANAN: You're going to have 100 million Hispanics in the country, most of them new immigrants from Mexico which believes that belongs to them. What's going to happen to us, Sean, in my judgment, is what is happening right now. We are Balkanizing. We are dividing and separating from one another politically, morally — on issues like abortion, or Terry Schiavo — racially and ethnically when you get Jena and then you get Don Imus, and all of the things ripping us apart. All these things that used to pull us together and hold us together, no longer do.

Coming Apart? Pat Buchanan Says U.S. is a 'Nation in Crisis'

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[8mmMauser]

Don't faze me, bro!

Well, maybe a little...

Kevorkian's first speech, planned for the University of Florida, was postponed until January after significant protest from pro-life advocates, including Terri Schiavo's family.

Last month, Kevorkian said he was talking with HBO officials about making a movie of his life.

Jack Kevorkian First Speech Thursday at Michigan College on Prison Reform

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[8mmMauser]

A great thread from Salvation! Thanks for the pings, Pinkbell and wagglebee.

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Like every religious or cultic movement the cult of "Choice" has its own set of rules that govern the words and deeds of its adherents. Let's give these rules a quasi-religious title and call them:

The Ten Commandments of Choice.................

A New Idolatry for the Contemporary American -- Part One [Pro-Choice]

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[floriduh voter]

bttt. I took a freep holiday yesterday. I'm gonna check out Jill Stanek's article. Like me, she probably had no opinion on FT until he started saying such outrageous things. I would fear a president who put the rule of law such as it is today ahead of his Oath of Office. The rule of law has proven time and time again that it can be manipulated by very, bad judges and lawyers.

FYI: December 3rd would have been Terri's birthday. There's no reason on earth why she's not having a big birthday wing ding. On the day all the GOPers are in the county where she as killed, let me say again: TERRI SCHINDLER WAS MURDERED by the left, by the right and by the in betweeners.

I will NOT vote for a RINO. It's not going to happen.

[floriduh voter]

WND italics:

Jill Stanek fought to stop "live-birth abortion" after witnessing one as a registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. In 2002, President Bush asked Jill to attend his signing of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. In January 2003, World Magazine named Jill one of the 30 most prominent pro-life leaders of the past 30 years.

By the way, pro-life is in the FR most frequent keywords. I just noticed it. Thread starters, thank you very much for your persistence on all pro-life issues.