Exploiting patients.
Fleecing taxpayers.
Wasting healthcare resources.
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California
“The FBI and our partners are holding Prime Healthcare accountable for exaggerating patients’ needs and inflating the severity of their symptoms while handsomely lining their pockets.”
“Those who engage in health care fraud, including corrupt doctors and medical professionals driven by greed, exploit helpless or unwitting patients in violation of the oath they took to protect us – and often American taxpayers are the victims.”
Press Release announcing Prime’s settlement with U.S. Department of Justice, August 3, 2018
Prime Healthcare has a long and questionable history with regard to fraud, greed, and deceit. Yet somehow, Prime is still seen as a potential buyer of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center.
This is the same company that paid tens of millions of dollars to settle Medicare fraud cases with the U.S. Department of Justice — including sixty-five million dollars in one case alone.
Federal allegations say Prime knowingly admitted patients who did NOT need to be hospitalized — then lied on billing codes to charge Medicare for more expensive diagnoses.
That’s not an honest mistake. That’s a business model built on gaming the system.
According to allegations in court documents, they took advantage of sick people, fleeced taxpayers, and wasted precious health care resources — all to increase profits.
Prime Healthcare has a history of greed, fraud and deceit.
With Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center struggling to stay afloat, the profit-seeking Prime Healthcare continues being mentioned as a possible buyer, now or in the future.
Before Rhode Island even thinks about Prime, let’s take a look at their abysmal record:
