Tuesday, August 14, 2012

FLASH! Mitt Gouges Medicare, per NYTimes

Right this minute, go the NY Times front page and read its top story describing how Bain Capital is making enormous profit from the giant hospital chain HCA. How? By upping its charge codes to Medicare! By cutting staff and care! By BEDSORES!

NOTE: You can read ten stories in the NY Times free each mont without being a subscriber. THIS IS A MUST-READ!!

Yes, we know Romney isn't running Bain any more, but he and his family are still raking in the big income from Bain.

And the income from HCA through Bain is enormous!  Bain and two other private equity firms bought HCA in 2006 with mostly borrowed money (typical Bain) and then goosed up profitability so much that now the value of their HCA holding has TRIPLED!  We are talking BILLIONS here, folks!  TRIPLE the original $33 billion invested!

Paid for in large measure by YOUR tax dollars. By the paycheck withholding you pay for Medicare.  By your income taxes that go into Medicaid.

Romney has been gouging YOU!

"Code-upping" is Bain's magic marker. The codes describe the illness and level of treatment needed, i.e. what a hospital is charging Medicare for.  All of a sudden, under Bain, HCA's patients got a whole lot sicker, according to the HCA coding.  Has Medicare jumped on this upping the codes? No! The head of Medicare is a former Bain executive!  As we used to say, "How do you like them apples, Shirley?"

Bed sores?  The Bain-HCA hospitals include 8 of the nation's worst 15 for bed sores!  Bed sores are considered the leading indicia of poor quality care and inadequate nursing staff. And the HCA doctors are complaining about HCA pressure on the MDs to reduce care.

So no wonder Medicare is going broke while the quality of USA medical care is sinking as compared with other countries.

AND THE CHUTZPAH!  Romney and Ryan are running around saying that Medicare is doomed unless they destroy it to save it!  At the same time Romney has been milking the moo out of Medicare moola!  Romney is like the guy who killed his parents and then pleaded for mercy on the grounds he was an orphan!  He's been making money on the problem!  He's been making the problem!

This news story could  -  and should  -  be the election.

Good-o for the New York Times.  Journalism still means something.  It means a lot! Now let's see if the rest of the media pays attention.  Or are they going to continue to smarm over Ryan's "cute" cowlick?

Good-o for the Times, not just because the story could win us this election. It's good-o too because maybe it will save Medicare from the vultures like Romney.

Oh, people!  What kind of evil makes money off the sick and the old by cheating them, by damning them to the torture of bed sores and infection? By robbing the poor working stiffs who give up part of each paycheck to be sure their parents and grandparents have medical care?  What sort of filth slops up such ill-gotten gains?

Did Romney have a duty to know why his wealth from Bain was shooting up?  Yes, he did.  

We must do everything possible to stop this evil man.  Can we?  Oh, yes we can.  Because we must.

 And maybe now we know why Mitt isn't handing over those income tax returns.  
    


6 comments:

  1. I shared this on facebook. Should I ask first?

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    1. Of course you may share this on Facebook! And I'm so grateful that you are! And thanks also for reading the blog. Together we can do this very big thing. Yes we can!

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  2. Dorothy, I am so glad I found your post ! I was commenting on DU, but they threw me off.I read Romneys 2010 tax return and Ann Romneys Blind Trust. It was in on one of then that I found "HERCULES II LLC"I searched that and found that it was HCA.So, then I searched SEC filings and googled the heck out of it.Romney has an agreement with Bain to receive $$$$$ from the past etc.Romney through HERCULES II LLC is receiving millions from HCA.Medicare and Medicaid pay 40 % of HCA revenues.Mitty and Annie are getting rich off of all this.There are also other healthcare entities that are still making moola for the Roneys .I will come back to post some sitesre:HCA

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    1. GOOD JOB, Betty Jo! Your research is terrific! And it ties the knot! It's too bad the NYT and other media aren't putting this picture together yet and making clear that HCA's profits are Mitt Romney's profits! I think they are either lacking in confidence to put 2 and 2 together or are waiting until Paul Ryan is not the story of the moment. I'll give them a day or two and then post a blog on how we can kick the media into following through like you've done and putting the spotlight on Mitt Romney's slurping up the Medicare funds that should go to help sick people. Can you spread the word? Get some more readers? Thanks so much for being a reader and for the work you are doing! We are going to get this monster! Yes we can!

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  3. I'm sure President Obama's campaign staff is tucking this one away to bring up during a debate. I can't wait to watch the debates. Maybe it should be called Scholar meets Robber Baron.

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    1. Hey, Charles! Good to hear again from our Wisconsin man! Whenever commentators mention Paul Ryan swinging Wisconsin to Romney, I think of you swinging it right back to Obama. Are there others like you who'll be working for Obama? And, oh yes, I too look forward to the debates. Especially look forward to Romney losing his temper, which he does. He's up against the all-time Mr. Cool. Take care and stay in touch! And thanks for following the blog and for your always-hip comments!

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