Is this chutzpah or what? Rick Scott to run on health care platform

 Yes, it's true: Health industry mogul Rick Scott of Naples, who announced this week that he's running for governor of Florida, is touting his health platform.
 
But he's not offering ideas for helping 4 million uninsured Floridians get affordable health care. No, he's bragging about his efforts to kill the federal health law that does try to help them, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law last month.

Actually, he doesn't mention the fact that he failed to kill ACA. He brags about how he killed a part of it: a publicly sponsored plan that would have competed with the private sector.

From his press release: "In early 2009, Scott launched Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, a national campaign, which successfully defeated the government-run public option health care plan proposed by President Obama and liberal Democrats in Washington."

Scott says he made an "initial investment of $5 million of his own money to promote free market health care reform." 

Where did that money come from, you may ask?

"The self-made entrepreneur brings years of business experience and a strong record of success to the race. In 2001, he launched Solantic urgent care, which now has 31 locations throughout Florida and has helped 1.5 million patients, while saving them money and delivering better care.

"Scott also co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation in 1987 with just two hospitals, and over the following decade the company became the largest hospital company in America and the 12th largest employer in the world."

There are a couple of things his press release leaves out, though. Some of us reporters have been around long enough to remember them. Here's a summary from the New York Times a year ago:

"Once lauded for building Columbia/HCA into the largest health care company in the world, Mr. Scott was ousted by his own board of directors in 1997 amid the nation’s biggest health care fraud scandal. The company’s guilty plea and payment of $1.7 billion to settle charges including the overbilling of state and federal health programs was taken as a repudiation of Mr. Scott’s relentless bottom-line approach. "

With a record like that, imagine what kind of impact Scott could have leading Florida government. 

--Carol Gentry, Editor, can be reached at 727-410-3266 or by e-mail.