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condoleeza

(814 posts)
Sun Feb 17, 2013, 08:26 PM Feb 2013

Companies who milk Medicare - who owns them?

You know, I watch these commercials for the companies who provide supplies for diabetics and other chronic diseases and you just wonder who owns these companies? They all know how to milk the system to get every last fucking dollar out of medicare. I'd be willing to bet Romney and Graham and lots of other Republicans are behind these companies. Tried to research this during the election, but was unsuccessful. Somebody must know how to find out who these people are.

This is just one: http://www.libertymedical.com

Any suggestions on where to ask this question for people with more resources than I have?

Sorry - edited repeatedly to leave live link, apparently I'm retarded as well as pissed off.

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Companies who milk Medicare - who owns them? (Original Post) condoleeza Feb 2013 OP
Please revise your last paragraph ... Auggie Feb 2013 #1
Yes condoleeza Feb 2013 #3
Here's some info Revanchist Feb 2013 #5
They advertise to get business,yes,but virgogal Feb 2013 #2
You're not paying attention condoleeza Feb 2013 #4
Well yeah,they would be the target audience---they are the ones that need the products. As I said virgogal Feb 2013 #7
Update Revanchist Feb 2013 #6
Florida- no surprise here condoleeza Feb 2013 #8
when my mother needed a respiratory machine during her cancer treatments.... spanone Feb 2013 #9
kr HiPointDem Feb 2013 #10
Liberty seems to be a division of PolyMedica Corporation. HiPointDem Feb 2013 #11
Thank you, HiPointDem condoleeza Feb 2013 #12
"disturbing that they have been allowed to buy companies in countries with socialized medicine." HiPointDem Feb 2013 #13
Yip wingnuts of the Low Information variety MILK MediCARE yet vote for Rethugs UTUSN Feb 2013 #14

Auggie

(31,025 posts)
1. Please revise your last paragraph ...
Sun Feb 17, 2013, 08:39 PM
Feb 2013

as for your question, a simple Google search will tell you LM is owned by Medco Health Solutions, Inc., a publicly-held managed health care company. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medco_Health_Solutions

 

virgogal

(10,178 posts)
2. They advertise to get business,yes,but
Sun Feb 17, 2013, 09:54 PM
Feb 2013

why do you think they are milking Medicare?

The people with the diseases need the products and Medicare approves the payment of the charges.

No consumer has to do business with them if they prefer another company---and the other company will also be reimbursed by Medicare.

 

virgogal

(10,178 posts)
7. Well yeah,they would be the target audience---they are the ones that need the products. As I said
Sun Feb 17, 2013, 10:33 PM
Feb 2013

before,no one is forced into buying from these advertisers.

Revanchist

(1,375 posts)
6. Update
Sun Feb 17, 2013, 10:27 PM
Feb 2013

I don't think you'll have to worry about them for much longer.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/feb/15/liberty-medical-files-bankruptcy/


On a serious note, it looks like Medicare is changing its policy regarding durable medical equipment and supplies. Starting in July of this year, you'll have to use a Medicare contract supplier for mail-order supplies.

condoleeza

(814 posts)
8. Florida- no surprise here
Sun Feb 17, 2013, 10:39 PM
Feb 2013

Glad to hear they're going under. I rarely post any OP's here, just was hoping someone else here had some insight on this and apparently not.

I do appreciate your input, Revanchist, and the supporters on the link you sent was interesting. It's hard to follow the money and I'd just love to know who owned Liberty, who profited from it. Unless I'm blind, I don't see who the owners, the profiteers are.

virogal, my point wasn't about people with the diseases who need the products, my point was that these companies are milking the system by being given a ridiculous amount of supplies they will never use that Medicare pays for. My FIL recently died, he was a diabetic and ordered everything he could possibly order via the Internet and most of it can never be used by anyone else should we donate it to some entity, there are literally hundreds of things that he was sent that are now useless from a medical standpoint, and this is why I am just outraged and wondering who profits from this.

spanone

(135,586 posts)
9. when my mother needed a respiratory machine during her cancer treatments....
Sun Feb 17, 2013, 10:42 PM
Feb 2013

the company was here with equipment what seemed like minutes from when we got home from the hosp.

they bill direct. you have no idea what they are charging.

they could have been honest, they could have been crooks.


edit' spelling

 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
11. Liberty seems to be a division of PolyMedica Corporation.
Mon Feb 18, 2013, 01:33 AM
Feb 2013

Last edited Mon Feb 18, 2013, 02:15 AM - Edit history (1)

PolyMedica Corporation provides healthcare products and services primarily to seniors with Medicare insurance coverage. PolyMedica is best known through its Liberty Healthcare division, which provides blood glucose testing supplies and related services to diabetics. Through Liberty, which is advertised in a national television marketing campaign featuring actor Wilford Brimley and broadcaster Paul Harvey, PolyMedica also operates a mail-order pharmacy that provides a broad range of prescription medications.

http://www.answers.com/topic/polymedica-corporation

Which is itself a subsidiary or division of Medco.

Liberty Medical Supply, Inc. ("Liberty Medical&quot is a home delivery service that sells diabetes testing supplies, prescription drugs, urology supplies, CPAP and ostomy supplies directly to consumers. The company is a subsidiary of Medco Health Solutions, Inc., which purchased Liberty Medical and its parent company, PolyMedica, in 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Medical

And Medco:

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. is an American managed health care company currently serving the needs of more than 65 million people. Medco provides pharmacy services for private and public employers, health plans, labor unions, government agencies, and individuals served by Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans. Medco is a member of the S&P 500 and is ranked number 34 on the 2011 Fortune 500 list, with 2011 revenues of more than $70 billion.

In March 2008, Medco launched a collaboration with Sweden’s (then) government-operated retail pharmacy authority, Apoteket...

In April 2008, Medco acquired a majority interest in Europa Apotheek, a privately held company based in the Netherlands that primarily provides mail-order and specialty pharmacy services in Germany.,,

In August 2009, Medco formed a joint venture with United Drug plc, a pan-European healthcare leader, to provide home-based pharmacy care services in the United Kingdom for patients covered by the country’s National Health Service.

Medco International, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, healthcare solutions focused on enhancing the quality of care for patients with chronic and complex conditions, improving therapeutic outcomes and helping to ease the growing financial burden on payors. Established in 2010, the company is building a market presence across Europe

Medco was originally founded as National Pharmacies in 1983....acquired by Merck & Co., Inc. and became Merck-Medco. In August 2003, Medco Health Solutions, Inc. became an independent company in one of the largest domestic spin-offs at the time. It has recently been acquired by Express Scripts.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medco_Health_Solutions


And Express Scripts:

Express Scripts, Inc. is a Fortune 100 company, and it is one of the largest pharmacy benefit management organizations in the United States...The company processes pharmaceutical claims for members at network pharmacies and at their own mail order pharmacies. Headquartered in Cool Valley, Missouri in Greater St. Louis, Express Scripts provides integrated pharmacy benefit management services including network-pharmacy claims processing, home delivery services, specialty benefit management, benefit-design consultation, drug-utilization review, formulary management, and medical and drug data analysis services to manage drug plans for government agencies (both as administrator of employee benefits and public assistance programs), corporations, and unions. One of their largest clients is the United States Department of Defense's Tricare program.

On April 2, 2012, Express Scripts announced that it gained regulatory approval from the FTC for its 29.1-billion-dollar acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc. Together, it is estimated that the new combined company will cover prescription benefits for one in three Americans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_Scripts


So the answer to your question is: Liberty Medical is one puny little piece of one of the biggest Rx corporations in the world; a global corporation that makes a lot of its money sucking off public programs (much like a military contractor). It's a price-maker due to its major share of the market, and likely connected to the hilt (much like military contractors).

Major shareholders:

http://investors.morningstar.com/ownership/shareholders-major.html?t=ESRX

http://investors.morningstar.com/ownership/shareholders-major.html?t=ESRX

Executive compensation:

http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-compensation.action?t=ESRX®ion=USA&culture=en-us

Board:

http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/board-of-directors.action?t=ESRX®ion=USA&culture=en-us

The Director that's been on its board longest is Seymour Sternberg:

Seymour Sternberg, 68, was elected a director of Express Scripts in March 1992. Mr. Sternberg became Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of New York Life in April 1997, and served as Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in June 2008. Mr. Sternberg continued to serve as non-executive Chairman of the Board of New York Life until May 2009. Mr. Sternberg was appointed by former President Clinton as one of three U.S. representatives to the Business Advisory Council of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Mr. Sternberg has also served or serves on the boards of several public or private companies and charitable organizations. Mr. Sternberg is currently a director of CIT Group, Inc. and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Northeastern University.

http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-profile.action?PersonId=PS00001IHP&flag=Director&insider=Seymour_Sternberg&t=ESRX®ion=usa&culture=en-US

CIT Group is a bank holding company (i.e. lots and lots of banks under its umbrella):

CIT Group Inc. is a United States bank holding company founded in 1908 with more than $33 billion in finance and leasing assets. The company's name is an abbreviation of an early corporate name, Commercial Investment Trust. It provides financing and leasing capital to its small business and middle market clients and their customers across more than 30 industries. CIT maintains leadership positions in small business and middle market lending, factoring, retail finance, aerospace, equipment and rail leasing, and global vendor finance. CIT also operates CIT Bank (Member FDIC), BankOnCIT.com, its primary bank subsidiary, which offers a suite of online savings options designed to help customers achieve a range of financial goals.

The Company is part of the Fortune 500 and was a part of the S&P 500 Index until it was replaced by Red Hat at the close of trading July 24, 2009.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIT_Group

So sternberg = banking, insurance, health.

So who owns/controls Liberty Medical?

The oligarchs of the ruling class.

was there ever any doubt?

This is why healthcare costs so much in the US; because the oligarchs get a cut all the way up the pyramid.

condoleeza

(814 posts)
12. Thank you, HiPointDem
Mon Feb 18, 2013, 03:01 PM
Feb 2013

I've read through all the links, the first one was fascinating.

Liberty filed for Chapter 11, but is still in business, still trying to find out what happened with this lawsuit, which is undoubtedly why they filed Chapter 11. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2013/feb/15/liberty-medical-files-bankruptcy/

This is their website:
http://www.libertymedical.com

All the mergers, acquisitions are hard to follow, but from what I've seen you are correct in your ending comments. I've been unable to connect Romney directly so far, but I've no doubt that he's somewhere in the layers of all this. Find it disturbing that they have been allowed to buy companies in countries with socialized medicine. Still investigating.

 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
13. "disturbing that they have been allowed to buy companies in countries with socialized medicine."
Mon Feb 18, 2013, 03:05 PM
Feb 2013

indeed.

neoliberalism is undermining the entire world.

UTUSN

(70,435 posts)
14. Yip wingnuts of the Low Information variety MILK MediCARE yet vote for Rethugs
Mon Feb 18, 2013, 03:19 PM
Feb 2013

Back in '04, there was this brand spanking new black pick-up with a home health company logo on the doors and ---- guess what ---- a Shrub-CHEENEE bumpersticker. Doubtless it was a personal vehicle of the owner's of the home health company.

And in this cycle, a couple of months before the election, this young dude (30s/40s) yakked me up about our both having been in the Navy, but eventually the topic got to politics and this dude turned out to be the predictable, easy-going, non-political-junkie, redneck. He (Happy Hour) was thinking politics was all just a playful topic, but I drew the line in the sand (natch). So the next few months were not that Happy at the Happy. This dude was the owner of a Durable Medical Equipment company. At the first interview I mentioned that he got his money from MediCARE, which he denied. A week later he admitted that's where the billing went. And I said, "So you cash in on a Dem program and drive a BMW because of it but vote for jerks who want to dismantle it." He said, "They do NOT!"

So a couple of days after the election he was his pleasant self, asking how I was with the results. I said I had long made clear I didn't want to discuss this with (wingnuts). He said, "I'll just say this, that (Mittens) was the BEST kind of (Rethug)." I said, "What did I SAY?!1" And after awhile he said, "Well, I'm glad you won because I'd hate to see what you're like when you LOSE!1" Haha.

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