By George Wilson, contributing columnist | From time to time you hear Republican office holders and seekers speak in generalities about excessive government regulations. However they are seldom, if ever, specific about what regulation they would do without. Wonder why? It seems to me we need more oversight of corporations not less. Recently, I have been keeping track on some of these corporate transgressions and will do so in the future.
Since the beginning of 2010, drug manufacturers, hospital systems, insurers and other healthcare companies have paid nearly $7 billion in fines and settlements to resolve cases in which they were accused of defrauding the federal government.
Among the cases involving healthcare companies, the largest is the $784 million settlement the Justice Department reached last April with Pfizer and its subsidiary Wyeth to resolve allegations that they overcharged the Medicaid program. DaVita HealthCare Partners, a leading dialysis provider, was involved in the next two largest cases, in which it had to pay a total of $800 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in wasteful practices and paid referral kickbacks while providing services covered under Medicare and other federal health programs.
Banks, led by Wells Fargo, account for the second largest portion of False Claims Act penalties, with more than $3 billion in payments. In addition, the CEO of Wells Fargo boosted the value of his 6.5 million shares of stock to $200 million. This was achieved by pressuring bank employees to add new customer accounts that customers did not approve.
With their armies of K street lobbyists and the ability to give unlimited amounts of money to politicians, corporations have a big advantage. So you, the voter, should extend a healthy dose of skepticism when any politician throws out this generality. Better yet pin them down on exactly what excessive regulations they would eliminate.
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