Why Is Health Care So Expensive?
Well, they have to make enough money to pay their fines.
Via Cookie Jill at skippy’s you arrive at Government Dirt which has a list of the Top 20 Largest Cases of Companies Caught For Committing Fraud Against the Government.
The settlements, understand that these are the ones that got caught, range from $900 million for number 1 down to $152 million for number 20. The fun part of this list is that there is only one state fraud case, Bank of America caught acting badly in California to the tune of $187.5 million, and that is also the only case that does not involve a health care provider or pharmaceutical company.
When the health care reform was being discussed, the people who were guaranteed access were this collection of criminals. If they were people instead of corporations they would be in prison, not in the White House and Congressional meeting rooms.
6 comments
What we need is the death penalty for corporations. If you commit a crime, your corporation gets disbanded and its assets divvied up to pay off the victims. Shareholders get nothing.
Two things would happen: 1) Shareholders would refuse to invest money in corporations that do not have strong corporate governance and strict ethical standards, and 2) you’d get rid of most of the major U.S. corporations within a few years. Good riddance. It’s not as if they’ve managed to do a whole lot of good these past couple of decades, other than outsourcing all high-paying jobs elsewhere and replacing them with shit McJobs.
– Badtux the Vicious Penguin
It would be nice if the rule of law was invoked in the case of corporations. I more than a little tired of watching tax dollars spent with the same corporations who underperform on contracts, but always win bids because of the requirement to take the lowest bid.
All of the construction on the local military bases is being done by outsiders and will have a minimal impact on the local economy, despite all of the money being spent. We end up with new buildings, but not economic benefit, other than the negative costs to the local infrastructure of supporting people passing through.
The death penalty for corporations is an idea whose time has come.
Grrr! I guess these corporations don’t mind. What’s a bit of money when the CEOs and big cheeses get their salaries and bonues off the top?
.-= last blog ..Finally – took the kayak out. =-.
It’s just part of the cost of doing business for these people; they don’t care about laws or morality, just making a profit. The executives get paid, regardless.
Medicare is “going bankrupt” because the folks who blather on and on about how medicare is “going bankrupt” are bilking it.
I don’t see the corporate media making note of how these folks are breaking laws again..and again..and again…
Bring back shaming on a national level.
Throw the legal books at these evil creatures.
.-= last blog ..Days of Wine and Horses =-.
If we start actually throwing CEOs and boards of directors into real Federal prisons, this will stop. Fines just don’t cut it, they aren’t enough of a disincentive. If small business owners can go to prison, so can CEOs.