A Not So Healthy Respect For The Law

The SEC is investigating the country's largest hospital chain for allegedly cooking the books.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe into whether the largest hospital company in the world, Hospital Corporation of America, violated securities law by manipulating its books and records, according to documents and people familiar with the investigation.

The investigation has been focusing, at least in part, on HCA's London subsidiary and whether the company fabricated tens of thousands of payments for phantom nursing shifts, according to the documents and people familiar with the matter. The SEC has been coordinating with investigators at Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs in London, according to the documents.

HCA runs more than 160 facilities across the United States and in London and treats millions of people a year. In 2006, HCA, then a public company, was bought by a consortium including its management, the family of former Senate majority leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and three major financial firms for about $33 billion in the largest leveraged buyout ever at the time.

In a statement, HCA confirmed Tuesday that it has been contacted by the SEC as part of an ongoing probe, saying it "received a voluntary request for related information from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. We have provided requested information and look forward to working with them to conclude this inquiry." The company said the allegations under investigation are unfounded.

An SEC spokesman declined to comment about the probe. The agency opens many investigations each year, and most don't lead to formal action. The prospect of action in the HCA investigation could not be determined from documents and interviews.

Gosh, what better way to leave the Senate than to buy your way into the world's largest hospital group? The GOP's top guy in the Senate during the Bush years showed us exactly what the Republican version of health care reform is: rules to reduce oversight and regulations on companies like HCA so they could make more profit.

And people wondered why with their control of Congress and the White House, the GOP decided to "reform" health care by setting up trillions in government payments to Big Pharma for Medicare drugs.

Which is more important, folks? Health care or profit margins? It's time for us to decide.