A Dallas area hospice owner committed medical fraud to the tune of $60 million according to a federal indictment. Novus administrator Bradley Harris is a certified public accountant. He did more than fraudulently bill for hospice services. CPA Harris wrote physician orders for controlled substances and prescribed those at a level that caused patient deaths. He did this in order to grow his company so he could flip it for a huge profit.
His nefarious means went toward a very familiar end, one Michael Milken, David Rubenstein and Stephen Schwarzman have pursued. The Carlyle Group reached a number of settlements for untoward behavior, Synagro (bribe), Semgroup (fraud), LifeCare Hospitals (patient deaths), ARINC (lofty bribe) and was on the road to a federal fraud charge with ManorCare until the case was dropped.
PEU buyouts are now epidemic in healthcare. Sponsors want to sell new affiliates at a profit after loading them with debt, charging annual management fees and pulling cash via dividends/special distributions.
The greed and leverage boys will not make our healthcare system more affordable. They may not kill people directly like Mr. Harris, but they will prioritize returns over actual care, causing suffering and premature death.
