Paying for Health Care

Miami Family Health Care Costs Highest in the Nation

You better get a free lollypop for that price. According to the Millman Index, the average total medical costs for a family of four rose 7.4% in the past year to $16,771. Miami has the heaviest costs in the entire country, with an average of $20,280. That costs includes employer contributions, deduc ... More >>

Death and Profits

When Hugh Westbrook pioneered hospice care, his organization saw to the needs of the dying. Fifteen years later nothing has changed -- except the politics and the profit margins.

Carnival of Fraud

Step right up and be astounded by Miami's bizarre side show of Medicare and Medicaid scammers! After all, you're paying for it!

Looking for Mr. Positive

Urban legend or reality, The Bugchasers seeks a spotlight

The Toxic Pharmacy

A prominent couple's life unravels amid fraud charges and an arson investigation

Cavity Depravity

The rotten roots of a sweet HMO deal rip dental health from the mouths of babes

BEST TV NEWS REPORTER

Jilda Unruh

WPLG-TV (Channel 10)

Best Politician Convicted In The Past Twelve Months

Alberto Gutman

The New Dealers

They're poor, black, and HIV-positive. Their product? The AIDS medications intended to cure them.

The Sound of Mutilation

Before the Nazis amputated her arm, Sara Fershko was a concert violinist. Today she's struggling to pay her medical bills

Let the Sunshine In

Before the Nazis amputated her arm, Sara Fershko was a concert violinist. Today she's struggling to pay her medical bills

Two More Arrested In Miami's Hottest New Racket, Medicare Fraud

Sure, it's not as sexy as running coke in cigarette boats over the Florida Straits or bootlegging moonshine for northern gangsters on the lam. But damn if Medicare fraud isn't lucrative -- which is probably why it's shaping up as one of the defining crimes of modern Miami.As Jay Weaver's great cover ... More >>

Sparked By Sucess in Miami, Feds Widen Health Care Fraud Force

The string of headlines involving several local busts of fraudulent HIV/AIDS treatment facilities milking medicare for money was no coincidence. Two years ago the justice department begin specifically targeting medicare fraud in the city. After success in Miami and then Los Angeles, today Attorney G ... More >>

Time Stares Into the Abyss of Miami's Health Care Costs, Blames Retirees

via Fidget's flickrWe broke the news this week that the average cost of health care for a family of four in Miami was the highest in nation at $20,280, 20% more than the national average. So Time's brave Tim Padgett takes a look into the state of the health industry in Miami, and while he finds ... More >>

Miami-Dade Unveils Affordable Health Care

via Moriza's flickrHot off news that Miami has, by some metrics, the highest health care costs in the nation, the county unveiled plans for a new affordable health care plan that they're not only calling "cutting edge," but a possible model for nationwide reform. Dubbed Miami-Dade Blu ... More >>

Miami's Medicare Racket: Eight More Indicted in $100 Million Fraud

Let's go ahead and just christen it the cocaine trade of the Double-Aughts: Medicare fraud may be a lot less sexy, but it sure is keeping federal prosecutors in Miami busy.One month after busting up a $21 million, three-state ring, the feds expanded that investigation and charged eight Miami re ... More >>

Victoria Jackson: Obama Is Hitler Jr. and Wants to Kill Your Grandma

So apparently Victoria Jackson's heartfelt column about breaking into tears over Year One's sheep-fucking jokes was the first in what we can only hope is a long line of columns for (former Drudge collaborator) Andrew Breitbart's conservative site Big Hollywood.Unfortunately, the SNL alum and Mi ... More >>

Floridians Sure Have Some Funny Ideas About Health Care Reform

via A R B O's flickr​According to a new Quinnipiac poll, 58% of Floridians support creating a government health insurance plan, while only 36% oppose it. So it should be good news for supporters of the so-called "public option" that voters in a notoriously moderate swing state seem to be ... More >>

News Roundup

Mayoral candidate Tomas Regalado may be accused of not being able to deal with his personal finances (he claims to only be worth $5000 year after year, and once had his wages garnished for not paying taxes), but his campaign manager is doing a good job with his war chest. He's consistently out-raisi ... More >>

Can Charlie Crist Move Right Without It Seeming Like a Blatant Political Ploy?

Poor Charlie Crist. As he tries to make the move from governor to senator, he finds himself in quite the political quagmire. Much of which has been brought on by primary foe Marco Rubio hitting Crist from the right every chance he gets. So in response, Crist, whose reputation has changed from "Chain ... More >>

Democrat Maurice Ferre Doesn't Back Democrat Health Plan One Day After Democrat Loss

​Former Mayor of Miami Maurice Ferre, who somehow thinks he is running for US Senate even though he is trailing in the primary race for the party that is trailing in the general election race, has announced that he doesn't support the Democratic healthcare plan.  "It is a special-interest pla ... More >>

Go for Baroque

​Former Mayor of Miami Maurice Ferre, who somehow thinks he is running for US Senate even though he is trailing in the primary race for the party that is trailing in the general election race, has announced that he doesn't support the Democratic healthcare plan.  "It is a special-interest pla ... More >>

Governor Race: McCollum Leads Sink by 10 Points

​Hot on the heels of his announcement that he'd file a lawsuit if any health care legislation passes in Washington that would force people to buy insurance, Attorney General Bill McCollum finds himself with a 10 point lead in the Governor's race.According to a new poll from Quinnipiac, R ... More >>

Das Muse

​Hot on the heels of his announcement that he'd file a lawsuit if any health care legislation passes in Washington that would force people to buy insurance, Attorney General Bill McCollum finds himself with a 10 point lead in the Governor's race.According to a new poll from Quinnipiac, R ... More >>

Health Care Reform Passes, No Thanks To Your South Florida Politicos

If you're half as cool as the staff here at Riptide, you were flipping between March Madness and C-SPAN last night like your life depended on it. Which to pick?photo by Sage Ross, via Wikimedia CommonsThe power of cardboard signs and megaphones was not enough to derail health reform.On CBS, Korie Lu ... More >>

Alex Sink's Confusing Response to Health-Care Reform

​We've had a hard time figuring out where presumptive gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink lies on the Democratic Party's spectrum.Is she a dyed-in-the-wool, bleeding-heart liberal? Eh, probably not.Is she a staunch Blue Dog? Doesn't quite seem like it.Is she, like so many Florida politicians, a cautio ... More >>

RPOF Says Alex Sink is Basically Florida's Fidel Castro

​Fidel Castro took some time out of his busy schedule of not dying to pen a piece for a state newspaper that said President Obama and the Democrat's recent passage of health care reform is a "miracle." Well, the Republican Party of Florida took time out of their busy schedule of basically giv ... More >>

Fox News Wonders if Local Mom Battling Leukemia is "First 'Death Panel' Victim"

​In the News Roundup each morning we've been keeping an eye on the plight of Diana Smith, a local mother battling a rare form of leukemia. Smith was almost denied a life saving treatment when Social Security disability payments made to her son raised her income enough to where she no longer qualif ... More >>

Obama Critic Rick Scott to Run for Governor, and Boy, Does He Have an Interesting Past

​Richard L. Scott, a businessman who lives in Naples, has thrown his hat into the ring for the Republican's gubernatorial nomination against Attorney General Bill McCollum and state Sen. Paula Dockery. Don't know anything about him? Here's some fun facts:He hates President Obama's health care refo ... More >>

American Therapeutic Corp. Charged with Fleecing Medicare out of $200m By Using Dementia Patients

Bad doctors, bad. ​Miami has long been the country's capitol for Medicare fraud schemes, and today federal authorities arrested four people associated with American Therapeutic Corporation and charged the Miami-based company with fleecing $200 million from Medicare. The company is accused of preyi ... More >>

Election Day Recap: A Real Life Montgomery Burns Poised to Lead Florida

Florida's new governor: Rick Scott​Watching last night's election results pour in, Banana Republican could only take solace that Dorrin Rolle is no longer a Miami-Dade County commissioner and that state legislators will no longer have the ability to draw their own districts. Other than that, the 2 ... More >>

Alex Sink Blames Obama Administration for Her Loss

Is Alex Sink chewing on a bushel of sour grapes following her loss to Rick Scott or is she accurately hitting on some of the political and messaging failures of the Obama White House and the Democratic party in general? In an article on Politico this weekend, Sink lays some of the blame for her loss ... More >>

Florida Judge Worried Obama Might Make Us All Buy Broccoli

via​A federal judge today began hearing arguments in outgoing Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's lawsuit against the Federal Government, which alleges that forcing citizens to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. The trial is expected to be an in-depth, mature and scholarly proceeding. ... More >>

Proposed State Amendment Would Deny Funding For Abortions For Rape and Incest Victims

​Federal Republicans were forced to back down from a controversial bill dictating that federal money could only be spent on abortions for woman who were "forcibly raped," where as current language allows for some public spending on abortions for woman who are victims of rape or incest. They backed ... More >>

Health Care Costs a Miami Family of Four $23,362 a Year, More Than Anywhere Else in America

​The average health care bill for a family of four living in the Miami area in 2011 will be $23,362. That's more than any other major metro area in America, and a 120.5 percent, or $3,969, more than the national average. Considering that national average for health care cost has more than doubled ... More >>

Allen West, uncut

A candid conversation with South Florida's rising Tea Party star.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree: Rep. Daphne Campbell's Son Charged with Medicare Fraud

​Back in December, New Times reported the long and shady past of newly elected state Rep. Daphne Campbell's questionable dealings while running group homes for adults who need special care. Now her son, 28-year-old Gregory Campbell, has been charged with Medicare fraud for allegedly bill ... More >>

Elton John and Rick Scott Spar Over AIDS Drug Assistance Program

Elton John in an ad for a MAC lipstick that benefits AIDS charities. ​Singer Elton John is just the latest in a long line of critics who have a bone to pick with Florida governor Rick Scott. Through his Elton John AIDS Foundation, the singer wrote a letter to Scott urging the governor not to make ... More >>

Marco Rubio Tricked The Tea Party

​Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke reassesses Sen. Marco Rubio's Tea Party credentials.I need to thank Marco Rubio. He really stuck it to the Tea Party. He ... More >>

Marco Rubio tricked the Tea Party into thinking he was part of the clan

​Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the U.S. Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke reassesses Sen. Marco Rubio's Tea Party credentials.I need to thank Marco Rubio. He really stuck it to the Tea Party. He ... More >>

Marco Rubio and the Grand Old Party Are a "Hot, Sloppy Mess"

A hot, sloppy mess. And Nicki Minaj.​The Riptide national politics desk has been working around the clock to bring you this shocking revelation: Some Democrats suspect the Republican Party is crazy."I think Mitch McConnell, frankly, has lost his mind," said Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Miss ... More >>

Rick Scott Pays Just $360-a-year For His Taxpayer-Subsidized Health Insurance

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average health plan costs an American family $13,770 in premiums a year. Governor Rick Scott pays just $360 to insure himself and his wife thanks to a state Government plan he's enrolled in. Yep. the average American pays 38.25 percent more for their he ... More >>

Ed Schultz Rips Marco Rubio for Insulting America

​So, Marco Rubio is going around calling America "weakened." He blames it on Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Well, MSNBC host Ed Schultz takes exception to the claim, and ripped Rubio in a 16-minute segment aired last Friday."Rubio is stupid, he doesn't even know he's offensive," says Schu ... More >>

SoFla Clinics Suckered Out-of-State Medicare Patients With Mental & Drug Problems

US Attorney General Eric HolderSouth Florida can add another feather to its fraud cap: scummiest Medicare scammers in the U.S.​​SoFla has long been the anus epicenter of health care fraud (see Rick Scott and Columbia/HCA). So it's no surprise that when prosecutors announced charges today ag ... More >>

Aiman Aryan, Accused Of Slinging Oxy, Ran Pharmacy In Downtown Government Center

photo by Daniel Christensen via Wikimedia CommonsCounty Hall, oxy central?​In true South Florida fashion, a pill mill that trafficked thousands of illegal oxycodone tablets was operating right in the heart of Miami-Dade County government, the feds say.Recent charges filed against Robert's Drug Sto ... More >>

Robert's Drug Store busted for illegal oxycodone at Government Center

photo by Daniel Christensen via Wikimedia CommonsCounty Hall, oxy central?​In true South Florida fashion, a pill mill that trafficked thousands of illegal oxycodone tablets was operating right in the heart of Miami-Dade County government, the feds say.Recent charges filed against Robert's Drug Sto ... More >>

David Rivera Accused of Abusing Congressional Privilege With Medicare Mailer

Rivera's taxpayer funded flier​One of the perks in Congress is the right of "franking" -- no, it has nothing to do with Barney Frank, tequila shots and a dark alley. It's the ancient right to send constituents heaps of unwanted glossy fliers plastered with your grinning face at taxpayer expense. F ... More >>

Miami Named Worst-Run City in America, Hialeah is Tenth

​Congratulations Miami-Dade County! We're home to not one, but two of the ten worst-run cities in the entire United States of America. The City of Miami came first on 24/7 Wall Street's list. That would be bad enough, but citizens of Miami proper may be even more devastated ;to find that their cit ... More >>

Florida Prisoner Whose Penis Was Amputated Gets Billed By The State For Medical Expenses

​A Floridian convicted of drunk driving already had his penis amputated during a three-year prison stay. Now the state wants him to pay more than $50,000 for the experience. Last week, we brought you the sorry saga of a man we named Hank, who endured several allegedly botched surgeries while in ... More >>

"Obamacare" Has Already Saved Floridians $142 Million

​Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi may be fighting to repeal President Obama's healthcare reform laws in court, but the new laws have already saved Floridians close to $142 million, and most of the laws haven't even gone into effect yet. The savings come from Medicare recipients who now pay l ... More >>