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Did Rick Scott steal $300M? Internet slams him for Medicare fraud as he backs Marco Rubio against Steve Schmidt

Scott was reportedly paid a $9.88M settlement after he quit Columbia/HCA following the initial raid and he apparently also owned 10M shares in the company

Republican US Senator from Florida Rick Scott has become the topic of discussion among Internet users for defending fellow senator Marco Rubio after the latter maligned one of the founders of The Lincoln Project, Steve Schmidt, on Twitter. 

The online feud between Scott, Rubio and Schmidt has led to people widely discussing the healthcare fraud Scott was allegedly a part of. Many of them are labeling him a "thief" for allegedly stealing $300M in Medicare fraud. 

Did Scott steal $300 million?

Scott co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation, which later merged with HCA Healthcare to become Columbia/HCA, one of the largest for-profit hospital systems in the US. His organization got involved in an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services after growing concerns over potential Medicare fraud. A few months later, Scott resigned as the CEO and chairman of Columbia/HCA. 

Reportedly, in December 2000, the US Justice Department declared it to be the largest government fraud settlement in US history after Columbia/HCA agreed to pay $840M in criminal fines, damages and penalties. Another $881M was added to the existing settlement in 2002, bringing the total from the fraud scandal to $1.7B. Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty and no one had to serve jail time. 

The reports that emerged later speculated that Scott had unethically made huge profits from the healthcare industry. Reportedly, Scott was paid a $9.88M settlement after he quit the company following the initial raid. He was also said to own 10M shares of stock in the company, worth more than $300M. Scott was eventually accused of “stealing” from the company. Joshua Karp, spokesperson for Florida Democratic Party said in a statement, "Rick Scott’s company stole money that should have gone to health care for seniors," labeling him the "ultimate Medicare thief". 

On August 18, internet users took to Twitter to accuse Scott of stealing "billion of dollars from the Medicare system through his crooked companies", following his response to Rubio’s tweet, which was directed at Schmidt. Rubio shared a tweet, in which he accused Schmidt of turning to "political prostitution". He wrote, "Schmidt is the type of man who turns to political prostitution. The type of washed up man who sensed new opportunities to make some $. The type of man who gladly supports a party with prominent members who sympathize with Castro because it helps him be relevant, just a little."

Retweeting Rubio's tweet Schmidt responded, "It’s a hard truth to face. You are a timid and frightened man. You have the spirit of a collaborator. You have turned your back on all that you once claimed to have believed. You have stood silently by as Trump has wrecked the country with his incompetence and malice."

Soon, Scott came forward to support Rubio by tweeting, "Marco is right. Steve Schmidt has always hated conservatives. His opinion is meaningless. Telling a Cuban-American leader like @marcorubio that he would have supported Castro is offensive and idiotic."

The online feud was further fueled by another tweet shared by Schmidt, which read, "Senator, I don’t hate anyone. I do have a seething contempt for you and your colleagues who have been silent enablers of the profound damage Trump has done to this country. You have been faithless to your oaths as Trump has desecrated the Presidency and sundered the American."

Scott started trending on Twitter as more and more people weighed in to express their opinion about the series of tweets exchanged between him, Rubio and Schmidt, with the majority of them pointing fingers at Scott for his involvement in the Medicare controversy. 

One angry Twitter user wrote, "And Rick Scott is a criminal who got somehow to become governor and a senator. The largest Medicare fraud scheme ever in the world. Committed by Senator Scott. And Rubio is a step below a gutter. You're all Russian assets."

While another added, "Rick Scott will be remembered as an unfortunate mistake in Florida's political history."