May 17, 2012
From The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Contact Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Dental Abuse Seen Driven by Private Equity Investments
Bloomberg - By Sydney P. Freedberg - May 17, 2012 ……
Orthodontist
Christine Ellis, third right, testified in Congress that the “flagrancy of the
fraud” she found in audits she performed for Texas Medicaid “is truly unbelievable,” with
only 10% of the paid claims she reviewed actually qualifying for Medicaid
coverage. Source: WFAA-TV via Bloomberg
Isaac’s case and others like it are under scrutiny by
federal lawmakers and state regulators trying to determine whether a popular
business model fueled by Wall Street money is soaking taxpayers and having a
malign influence on dentistry. Isaac’s dentist was dispatched to his school by ReachOut Healthcare America, a dental management
services company that’s in the portfolio of Morgan Stanley Private Equity,
operates in 22 states and has dealt with 1.5 million patients. Management
companies are at the center of a U.S. Senate inquiry, and audits,
investigations and civil actions in six states over allegations of unnecessary
procedures, low-quality treatment and the unlicensed practice of dentistry…... ReachOut is one of at least 25 dental management-services
companies bought or backed by private-equity firms in the last decade. Dentists
contract with the companies for marketing, scheduling, staff recruitment,
supplies and other services. The companies account for about 12,000, or 8
percent, of U.S. dentists,
according to Thomas A. Climo, a Las Vegas dental consultant. Some of them have been riding a boom in Medicaid outlays on
dentistry, which rose 63 percent to $7.4 billion between 2007 and 2010,
outstripping the 4.9 percent growth in other dental spending. ReachOut and several of its private equity-backed rivals seek
patients like Isaac Gagnon, who are covered by Medicaid, the federal-state
insurance program for the poor and disabled. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-17/dental-abuse-seen-driven-by-private-equity-investments.html
********************
Louisiana is the world's prison capital | NOLA.com May 13,
2012, By Cindy Chang, The Times-Picayune
Louisiana is the world's prison capital. The
state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. First among Americans means
first in the world. Louisiana's incarceration rate is
nearly triple Iran's, seven times China's
and 10 times Germany's.
The hidden engine behind the state's well-oiled prison machine is cold, hard
cash. A majority of Louisiana
inmates are housed in for-profit facilities, which must be supplied with a
constant influx of human beings or a $182 million industry will go bankrupt. Read complete article at ….. http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/louisiana_is_the_worlds_prison.html
********************
What Did JPMorgan Execs Know and When
Did They Know It? by Jesse Eisinger ProPublica,
May 16, 2012, The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation are looking into JPMorgan Chase’s
trading debacle — and if you think anything is going to come of that, well, I’m
pretty sure that JPMorgan has some derivatives it
would love to sell you. A serious investigation is still necessary. The first
lesson of the financial crisis is not that the capital markets were poorly
regulated or that the banks were too leveraged or that the government needed
better processes for taking over failing institutions. The first lesson is that
when they are in trouble, banks will mislead the world about their financials.
And some will lie. Richard S. Fuld Jr. of Lehman
Brothers, E. Stanley O’Neal and Charles O.
Prince of Citigroup all played down their banks’ exposures before their
institutions took vast losses. Were they deliberately misleading? Because of
the failures to investigate the financial crisis adequately, we still don’t
know. Continued at ….. http://www.propublica.org/thetrade/item/what-did-jpmorgan-execs-know-and-when-did-they-know-it
In this column, co-published with New York Times'
DealBook, I monitor the financial markets to hold companies,
executives and government officials accountable for their actions. Tips? Contact me at jesse@propublica.org
More coverage: The Trade
Obama wants tough rules after JPMorgan loss: report
The Magnetar Fallout: Who's Been
Charged, Has Settled, or Is Being Investigated? by Cora Currier | @coracurrier ProPublica, May 17, 2012 A rundown of the various charges,
settlements and investigations into the deals spawned by the hedge fund Magnetar that helped super charge the financial
meltdown. Continued at ….. http://www.propublica.org/article/the-magnetar-fallout-whos-been-charged-settled-or-is-being-investigated
More coverage: The Wall Street Money Machine
********************
Eighteen Hospital Executives Earn Over $1 Million by Barbara Nagy |
May 8, 2012 8:00 pm | Comments (2)
The health care system may be ailing, but newly compiled data show that
compensation for top executives at Connecticut hospitals remains healthy.
Eighteen executives at the state’s 30 hospitals made more than $1 million in
2009-10, according to information the hospitals reported to the Internal
Revenue Service. More than a third of these 18 – seven – were stepping down
from their posts, and retirement benefits helped drive compensation across the
board. Hartford Hospital’s outgoing chief executive officer, John J. Meehan,
was the highest paid in Connecticut
and one of the highest paid nationally. His compensation totaled $6.98 million
– all but $1.1 million of it nontaxable and retirement benefits, according to
the hospital. Continued at ….. http://c-hit.newhavenindependent.org/
********************
WHY CONGRESS
CANNOT BALANCE THE BUDGET http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW5IdwltaAc&feature=youtu.be
********************
Needy States Use Housing Aid Cash to Plug Budgets NYTimes By
SHAILA DEWAN Some states are diverting their share of a $2.5 billion they were
awarded in a mortgage settlement, money intended to help homeowners and
mitigate the effects of foreclosures. Hundreds of millions of dollars meant to
provide a little relief to the nation’s struggling homeowners is being diverted
to plug state budget gaps. In a budget proposed this week, California joined
more than a dozen states that want to help close gaping shortfalls using money
paid by the nation’s biggest banks and earmarked for foreclosure
prevention, investigations of financial fraud and blunting the ill effects of
the housing crisis. California
was awarded more than $400 million from the banks, and Gov. Jerry Brown has
proposed using the bulk of that sum to pay the state’s debts. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/business/states-diverting-mortgage-settlement-money-to-other-uses.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&adxnnl=1&emc=edit_th_20120516&adxnnlx=1337429318-sSSQnsuNJNyvX6d3XUTDwA
Document: The Mortgage
Settlement and the States
Foreclosures (2012 Robosigning and
Mortgage Servicing Settlement)
********************
********************
Taxpayers Fund $454000 Pay for Collector Chasing Student Loans
Happy Graduation! Here’s The Best, Most Depressing Journalism on Student Debt
********************
Northeast
Utilities
New CEO Promises Better Response Time, But Says New
Regulations May Increase Costs
********************
ALLOCATION OF REVENUES FROM CHARGES ON ELECTRIC BILLS
********************
Bill to stop 'fake farmers' from
getting large property tax discounts passes ... The Star-Ledger - NJ.comTRENTON
— A Senate panel has approved a
bill to make it tougher for property owners to qualify for large property tax
discounts if they use their land for farming. Under the bill (S589), sponsored by state Sen. Jennifer Beck
(R-Monmouth) and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), those who
claim a farmland tax exemption would have to sell at least $1,000 worth of
products from five acres of land – up from $500. Continued at ….. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/nj_senate_panel_tries_to_stop.html
********************