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Strategies & Market Trends : Mr. Pink's Picks: selected event-driven value investments -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (14996)	3/15/2001 4:38:33 PM
From: Odysseus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18998

Thank you for confirming my suspicions. I plan to attend the next MFW shareholder's meeting and break wind in his direction.

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (14996)	3/15/2001 5:08:21 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 18998

US to detail HCA-Healthcare Medicare fraud -lawyers By James Vicini WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Lawyers for two whistle-blowers alleged on Thursday that No. 1 U.S. U.S. hospital chain HCA-Healthcare Corp.(NYSE:HCA - news), which has already paid more than $800 million to settle various Medicare fraud charges, has also engaged in a separate scheme to defraud the Medicare system of more than $400 million. The lawyers for former hospital employees said the Justice Department later on Thursday will detail the alleged scheme, which involved false claims by the company in its annual cost reports. They said the department also will file separate amended complaints involving alleged kickbacks and improper physician investment arrangements when the company was known as Columbia-HCA Healthcare Corp. The lawyers had no estimate of how much money might be involved in that alleged scheme. The Justice Department has until midnight to file the amended complaints. Department spokesman Charles Miller said he did not have details on the upcoming filing. He said the court papers could be filed late on Thursday night, but not made available until Friday. An HCA spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment. HCA in December announced that it reached a tentative $95 million agreement to settle outstanding federal criminal allegations over Medicare billing. The federal government's investigation of the company dated back to 1997. In May, the company announced a $745 million civil settlement that resolved a number -- but not all -- of the issues involving allegations of fraudulent conduct at its hospitals and other facilities. Stephen Meagher, an attorney in San Francisco who represents the two whistle-blowers, said the Justice Department's amended complaints ``are a clear signal that HCA's problems with the government are far from over.'' Meagher, of the law firm Phillips & Cohen, represents James Alderson, a former director of fiscal services with a small hospital in Montana, and John Schilling, a former reimbursement manager for Columbia in Florida. Under the false claims law, whistle-blowers, such as former company employees, may bring civil lawsuits alleging fraud against the federal government. The government decides whether to join the lawsuit. The whistle-blowers receive a percentage of any amount awarded to the government. (now, is it time to pound the overvalued healthcare sector?)

To: Mr. Pink who wrote (14996)	3/15/2001 6:59:43 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18998

Mr P$nk, Congrats, and a heartful thank you for the FLEX idea ,, itchy but it worked out...nice call!