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Hospitals use Homeless in Fraud
Topic Started: Aug 7 2008, 05:27 AM (255 Views)
George K
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Finally
FBI: LA hospitals used homeless in medical fraud

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For hundreds of homeless people, posing as phony hospital patients provided them a clean bed and cash. For the hospitals that processed them, it meant a full patient-load and a paycheck from the government.

Now some of those allegedly involved in what authorities say was a massive scheme have been charged with billing government programs for millions of dollars in unnecessary health services.

A hospital CEO was arrested Wednesday after federal agents raided three medical centers. City attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office has also sued the hospitals, saying they used homeless people as "human pawns."

Hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties submitted phony Medicare and Medi-Cal bills for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of homeless patients — including drug addicts and the mentally ill — recruited from downtown's Skid Row, state and federal authorities allege.

While treating minor problems that did not require hospitalization, such as dehydration, exhaustion or yeast infections, the hospitals allegedly kept homeless patients in beds for as long as three days and charged the government for the stays.

Search warrants were served Wednesday at City of Angels Medical Center, Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center and Tustin Hospital and Medical Center, the FBI said.

Agents arrested Rudra Sabaratnam, CEO of City of Angels hospital, and Estill Mitts, operator of a Skid Row health assessment center, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. They were in federal custody and were scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

A 21-count indictment unsealed Wednesday charged both men with conspiring to receive and take kickbacks for patient referrals and to commit health care fraud. Sabaratnam also was charged with paying kickbacks and Mitts was charged with money laundering and tax evasion.

If convicted, Sabaratnam could face 50 years in federal prison, and Mitts could face 140 years, authorities said.

Bond for Mitts was set at $25,000. He was expected to be released Wednesday night to home detention, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office. Sabaratnam's bond hearing was set for Thursday.

Sabaratnam's lawyer Dominic Cantalupo, and Mitts' lawyer John Vandevelde did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien said he expects additional charges in the case.

"This is one of several major medical fraud investigations that are ongoing," he said. "There's too much money being illegally stripped from public health care programs and the potential impact to those with a legitimate need is too great to let such fraud escape federal prosecution."

The city attorney's office said it filed a lawsuit against the corporate owners of the three hospitals — along with Sabaratnam, several doctors and others — in connection with the alleged scheme.

The investigation began in 2006 as Los Angeles police looked into reports that hospitals were dumping homeless patients on Skid Row streets.

Representatives of the hospitals did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. Los Angeles Metropolitan and the Tustin hospital are owned by Pacific Health Corp., and Los Angeles-based Intercare Health Systems owns City of Angels.
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- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
Wow.
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
George K
Aug 7 2008, 09:27 AM
Agents arrested Rudra Sabaratnam, CEO of City of Angels hospital, and Estill Mitts, operator of a Skid Row health assessment center, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. They were in federal custody and were scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

:clap:
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Glad to hear that these slimballs are being nailed to the wall for this faggotry. :angry: :clap:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
I agree with every single charge being brought against the hospitals, but it's nice to know that the homeless folks were getting something out of the scam, too. That's a nice twist.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Mark
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HOLY CARP!!!
Anytime you have government handouts to individuals or institutions based on requirements such as this you will have corruption and abuse.

If you want more of something, anything, subsidize it with a check from the government.
___.___
(_]===*
o 0
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
There should be no such thing as a for-profit hospital.

The temptations are far too great...
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
Jolly
Aug 7 2008, 11:30 AM
There should be no such thing as a for-profit hospital.

The temptations are far too great...

I'm quite surprised. Seriously. You're a fairly consistent defender of free market principles.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
QuirtEvans
Aug 7 2008, 11:00 AM
Jolly
Aug 7 2008, 11:30 AM
There should be no such thing as a for-profit hospital.

The temptations are far too great...

I'm quite surprised. Seriously. You're a fairly consistent defender of free market principles.

A not-for-profit hospital contains elements of the free market system. The more efficient you are, the more money you make, the better you can treat your community, your employees and your patients. It does take a good board, however, to keep paws out of the till when times are good.

At one point in my career, I've worked for university healthcare, government healthcare, for-profit hospitals and not-for profit hospitals. The for-profit hospitals do the best job of delivering effective care for the monies spent, IMO, but they also have an absurd emphasis on capturing every charge, and marketing every available service to patients and staff.

Healthcare is a unique industry. God save us from the bean-counters...
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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George K
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Finally
Our place went from being independent to being bought by a large for-profit chain back in 1992 (I think). Yeah, there was lots of grumbling, and yeah, things got cut - a lot. But the place ran well. Like a business, you might say. The ownership knew what it needed to do to make money for its shareholders, and, in my opinion, the place did pretty well. Care was good, and although the perception of the community that the place had just become another cog in the corporate wheel, we stayed busy and did well.

About 6 years ago, the management decided that it wasn't making it in the Chicago area (they're based in another state), and sold the place to a large religious cult group. This outfit owns 4 hospitals in the area, with many others in the country.

They're a bunch of bozos. Multiple levels of middle management were introduced, and guess what? The place is languishing. Our place has always run lean and mean, and the new owners don't understand how we could have provided good care without all the leadership that they deemed necessary at other places. They don't understand that care is given by the nurses and docs, by the x-ray and lab techs who touch patients. Those who carry clipboards just get in the way, and the more of them you have, the worse it is.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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