Insurance agent behind possible Medicare fraud revealed
TUCSON - The News 4 Investigators told you about potential Medicare fraud impacting nearly a thousand people right here in the Tucson area last month. We've learned who is behind the possible fraud.
According to Medicare, several hundred Medicare beneficiaries were switched from their current providers to a plan provided by United Healthcare without consent during open enrollment last year.
Medicare tells us most, if not all, of the enrollment changes were traced back to the same independent agent. United Healthcare terminated the agent.
The Arizona Department of Insurance tells us Megan Monroe Racz had her license revoked because she failed to respond to a subpoena from the Department of Insurance. The department says the revocation is permanent, Racz cannot sell or service insurance policies and the investigation is ongoing.
Racz's attorney, Larry Lingeman sent the news 4 investigators this statement via email:
I do not feel it is appropriate for me to comment at this time regarding any allegations against my client, Ms. Racz. However, I will point out that a person changing coverage from Health Net to United Health Care would save $39.00 per month or over $400.00 per year and get better benefits...
-Larry J.
Cheap Health Insurance Tucson - News
According to Medicare, several hundred Medicare beneficiaries were switched from their current providers to a plan provided by United Healthcare without consent during open enrollment last year. Medicare tells us most, if not all, of the enrollment
According to AHCCCS officials, most of those were people who had lost their jobs, or who couldn't afford health insurance until they became so sick they had no other options. For Tucson organizations and health care facilities, sick individuals with no
Phillips is accused of using portions of Triano's $2 million life insurance policy to pay Ronald Young to kill Triano. The pair were indicted in October 2008. Young was convicted and is serving a life sentence. In December, Fields declared Phillips
Conservatives have made major inroads in recent years: They've reduced "dependency" on government—by doing things like eliminating KidsCare, which provided health insurance to children in families earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
However, Drs. Emanuel and Liebman, in a piece written in The New York Times, have taken it a step further by arguing that the system will be supplanted by affordable care organizations (ACOs) in the very near future. Recent experiments conducted by
Rick Santorum on Health Care: Not Much to Write Home About ...
Rick Santorum won three GOP contests yesterday: Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri, so I decided to take a look at where he stands on health care. Turns out his health care platform is just a predictable jeremiad of anti-Obama rants plus a collection of well-worn Republican feel-good proposals that would have little practical impact if enacted. That?s all you really need to know about it, but if you want more, here?s a point-by-point guide:
The section of his website is entitled ?Repeal and Replace ObamaCare with PATIENT-CENTERED HEALTHCARE? and has two tenets:
?Every American should have access to high-quality, affordable health care, with health care decisions made by patients and their physicians, NOT government bureaucrats? ?America needs targeted, market-driven, patient-centered solutions to address the costs and underlying causes of being uninsured rather than a one-size fits-all, government-run health care system?It?s interesting that he?s calling for universal, affordable access. Sounds a lot like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The only difference is this piece about ?government bureaucrats.? I wonder what specific elements of PPACA he means by this ?because I don?t see a lot of interference in ?health care decisions? in the Act relative to the pre-PPACA days.
It?s hard to argue with the idea of ?targeted? and ?patient-centered? solutions. And actually, that?s the path taken by PPACA. Didn?t opponents criticize the length of the bill? A lot of that is because there are many different targeted approaches taken: some for individuals, others for small business, others for medium sized organizations, still others for large entities. Other targeted interventions are in place for high-risk patients, and there is an innovation center to support the efforts of those who want to try new approaches. I will argue with Santorum?s appeal for ?market-driven? solutions ?which is going to mean many people are not insurable and that their premiums will rise and policies will be canceled when they get sick. And PPACA is simply not a government-run health care system as I have explained.