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WellCare Prosecution a Model for Health Fraud

It has become a mere annoyance, a cost of doing business, for health-care companies to pay fines for health-care fraud. But the outcome of the Justice Department's prosecution of four former executives of WellCare Health Plans for their role in a Florida Medicaid ripoff may make others think twice, theTampa Bay Times says.

This week, a Tampa jury found former CEO Todd Farha and three other high-ranking former executives guilty of stealing from taxpayers. The message it sends is worth the six years of effort and expense to prosecute the case.

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.