(1) The linked article goes into a bit more detail as to how the original concept grew financially including the securing of what I'm sure was a sizable loan from Citicorp.
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From the linked article --
"... In July 1988, Scott's Columbia Healthcare made its first acquisition — a $61 million purchase of two El Paso hospitals, with seller financing and loans from Citicorp. (A fact worth noting in this deal is that the seller of the El Paso hospitals was Nashville-based HealthTrust Inc., which was a spin-off company of HCA. In other words, the roots of Columbia-HCA were circular. As one former Columbia-HCA executive, who would not speak for attribution, said: “The policies we used went back to HCA.”) ..."
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(2) The article goes into far more detail about what was considered normal business practice back then, well worth reading for anyone else following this thread who truly wants to understand what was considered normal at that time.
It's also probably crucial to understand that it was Hillary Clinton's directives on healthcare, this while first spouse, that prompted a change into how healthcare would operate (and likely helping to set the stage for the Renegade's healthcare BS). It was these Hilldawg directives that Scott was vocally opposed to and they sent 500 agents into Scott's HCA facilities as a response.
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"... When Columbia purchased its hospitals, it too relied on outside auditors from the Big Four accounting firms to evaluate the hospitals' Medicare books and practices. Braun says in none of those deals did auditors flag any Medicare issues. “I've never even seen a cost report,” Braun says.
What most news reports have ignored about the alleged Medicare fraud have been the ample news reports between 1987 and final settlement in 2003 that the Medicare practices in question did not start with Columbia. They were inherited in Columbia's acquisitions. They existed before Scott purchased HCA and HealthTrust ..."
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"... This time a force of 500 agents in seven states swarmed into Columbia-HCA facilities looking for records showing Medicare overbilling.
..."
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As to your last point implying that Scott's foray into politics in Florida was shady...
I didn't find any mention of Scott residing in California prior to moving to Florida, but the article did mention that Scott was an attorney in Texas when he began his aggressive venture to build a healthcare network. In 1997 he moved to Naples, Florida and was involved in several companies during the ensuing THIRTEEN YEARS he was a Florida resident before running for office in 2010. Equating this to what the Hilldawg did in New York is rather disingenuous.
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From the linked article --
"... In the mid-1980s, Rainwater sat on the board of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and was a friend of then-HCA CEO Dr. Tommy Frist.
Scott, at the time, was an ambitious corporate mergers and acquisition lawyer in his early 30s at a Dallas law firm. In 1987, having worked in health-care mergers a few years, Scott..."
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From wiki (look down a ways starting at the "Venture Capitalist" section) --
And finally, as a general refutation of the leftist FNM smearing of Scott --
"... They reported, although downplayed, that Scott was never charged with any crimes nor investigated. The Miami Herald said “federal investigators found that Scott took part in business practices ... that were later found to be illegal” — citing no evidence of Scott's personal involvement nor noting that these “practices” were widely accepted in the industry until federal regulators changed the rules.. ..."
Your points --
(1) The linked article goes into a bit more detail as to how the original concept grew financially including the securing of what I'm sure was a sizable loan from Citicorp.
.
From the linked article --
"... In July 1988, Scott's Columbia Healthcare made its first acquisition — a $61 million purchase of two El Paso hospitals, with seller financing and loans from Citicorp. (A fact worth noting in this deal is that the seller of the El Paso hospitals was Nashville-based HealthTrust Inc., which was a spin-off company of HCA. In other words, the roots of Columbia-HCA were circular. As one former Columbia-HCA executive, who would not speak for attribution, said: “The policies we used went back to HCA.”) ..."
.
(2) The article goes into far more detail about what was considered normal business practice back then, well worth reading for anyone else following this thread who truly wants to understand what was considered normal at that time.
It's also probably crucial to understand that it was Hillary Clinton's directives on healthcare, this while first spouse, that prompted a change into how healthcare would operate (and likely helping to set the stage for the Renegade's healthcare BS). It was these Hilldawg directives that Scott was vocally opposed to and they sent 500 agents into Scott's HCA facilities as a response.
.
"... When Columbia purchased its hospitals, it too relied on outside auditors from the Big Four accounting firms to evaluate the hospitals' Medicare books and practices. Braun says in none of those deals did auditors flag any Medicare issues. “I've never even seen a cost report,” Braun says.
What most news reports have ignored about the alleged Medicare fraud have been the ample news reports between 1987 and final settlement in 2003 that the Medicare practices in question did not start with Columbia. They were inherited in Columbia's acquisitions. They existed before Scott purchased HCA and HealthTrust ..."
.
"... This time a force of 500 agents in seven states swarmed into Columbia-HCA facilities looking for records showing Medicare overbilling.
..."
.
As to your last point implying that Scott's foray into politics in Florida was shady...
I didn't find any mention of Scott residing in California prior to moving to Florida, but the article did mention that Scott was an attorney in Texas when he began his aggressive venture to build a healthcare network. In 1997 he moved to Naples, Florida and was involved in several companies during the ensuing THIRTEEN YEARS he was a Florida resident before running for office in 2010. Equating this to what the Hilldawg did in New York is rather disingenuous.
.
From the linked article --
"... In the mid-1980s, Rainwater sat on the board of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and was a friend of then-HCA CEO Dr. Tommy Frist.
Scott, at the time, was an ambitious corporate mergers and acquisition lawyer in his early 30s at a Dallas law firm. In 1987, having worked in health-care mergers a few years, Scott..."
.
From wiki (look down a ways starting at the "Venture Capitalist" section) --
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Scott
.
And finally, as a general refutation of the leftist FNM smearing of Scott --
"... They reported, although downplayed, that Scott was never charged with any crimes nor investigated. The Miami Herald said “federal investigators found that Scott took part in business practices ... that were later found to be illegal” — citing no evidence of Scott's personal involvement nor noting that these “practices” were widely accepted in the industry until federal regulators changed the rules.. ..."