Epic Rick Sanchez: Anti-Villager Win

Via TPM, CNN anchor Rick Sanchez stomps the crapcakes out of anti-health care drone Rick Scott.



I've talked about Rick Scott before, he's the scumbag former health conglomerate Columbia/HCA CEO who's the health insurance industry's media point man on killing Obamacare. Back at Columbia/HCA, Scott was a real piece of work.

"Other hospitals were intimidated," recalls John Schilling, who worked for Columbia/HCA in the 1990s. Scott was "like the bully that would come into town and if you didn't sell to him or partner with him, he would open up shop across the street from you and put you out of business."

Not long after joining the company in 1993 as the supervisor of reimbursement for the Fort Myers, Florida, office, Schilling noticed things weren't quite kosher. "They were looking for ways to maximize reimbursement...which ultimately would improve the bottom line."

One way they did this was to fudge the costs on their Medicare expense reports. They were "basically keeping two sets of books," says Schilling. The company would maintain an internal expense report, what it called a "reserve" report, which accurately tallied its expenses. "And then they would have a second report, which...they would file with the government, which was more aggressive." That report would "include inflated costs and expenses they knew weren't allowable or reimbursable. The one they filed with government might claim $5 million and the reserve would claim $4.5." Columbia/HCA would pocket the difference.

You want to know why health care in this country is the most expensive in the world? The practices Rick Scott pioneered became standard operating procedure for the health insurance industry across the board.

And Rick Sanchez just kicked this guy's ass on national TV. Hell yes.

EPIC WIN.