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Trial Underway Against Former WellCare Execs

WellCare sign denoting building
Tampa Tribune
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Opening arguments were scheduled today in what could turn out to be a three-month trial for four former WellCare executives accused of defrauding state Medicaid programs and Florida KidCare, the Tampa Tribune reports. The company has already settled criminal and civil charges for breaking the law in the years leading up to an FBI raid on the Tampa headquarters in 2007.

With 13 lawyers and assistants, the defense outnumbered the jury, which was chosen on Monday. The four are accused of lying about how much the company spent on mental health treatment to take in hundreds of millions of dollars the company wasn’t entitled to. The executives are accused of profiting from the inflated stock.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.