OASIS FORUM Post by the Golden Rule. GoldTent Oasis is not responsible for content or accuracy of posts. DYODD.

Tons of this stuff on the Internet. This one is really funny.

story: 15 Fraud and Abuse Cases Making Headlines in 2010

Part: 3. Los Angeles’ City of Angels Medicare fraud consent judgement. Intercare Health Systems, formerly doing business as Los Angeles’ City of Angels Medical Center, agreed to a $10 million consent judgment in May to resolve a civil lawsuit against Intercare by the United States and the state of California for a Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud scheme, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

City of Angels was accused of violating the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute by paying illegal kickbacks to recruiters employed at Los Angeles homeless shelters to deliver homeless patients by ambulance to the hospital for medical treatment regardless of whether their clients in fact needed or requested such treatment. City of Angels would then bill the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs for a variety of medical services allegedly rendered to the homeless patients, many of which were not medically necessary.

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/15-fraud-and-abuse-cases-making-headlines-in-2010.html

When it comes to money, some people money problems and you never know how desperate they are to cheat. Doctors with drug habits, (I heard is common) addicted gamblers, robbed blind due to a divorce etc etc. Some are just plain greedy. Never satisfied, never have enough money.

Years ago when working in a defense plant with big complicated blue prints, whenever I found one mistake, I knew there were others, and had be extra careful. Some engineers were 100% perfect. All their phone numbers were always on the drawings, and I would sometimes call them to straighten things out. I’m thinking its the same with Doctors. If you find one bad one, you can figure there are others.

Stories:

A Michigan doctor who misdiagnosed patients with cancer and then bombarded them with unnecessary treatments will have to face his victims — who lost their health, savings and trust — at an emotional sentencing hearing that opens Monday.

The breadth of Fata’s misdeeds was laid bare last month in a sentencing memo from prosecutors, who revealed for the first time that a total of 553 people allegedly got unnecessary treatment — amounting to 9,000 injections or infusions that cost insurance companies and patients millions.

In requesting a 175-year sentence, prosecutors compared Fata to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years even though he was in his 70s.

“In many ways, he is worse than Madoff, in that he wreaked damage on not only his victims’ bank accounts, but their bodies,” they wrote.

(M.C. note, gov’t knew about Madoff, and looked the other way because he was generating revenue. I’m sure gov’t is still looking away on lots of things that help generate income for unneeded excess people)

“We need to uncover and correct the fundamental reasons behind the collective failure of our medical system at all levels which enabled this despicable fraud [to continue] for such a long time,” said the doctor, Soe Maunglay.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/farid-fata-doctor-who-gave-chemo-healthy-patients-faces-sentencing-n385161

story;

How Whistle-Blower Helped Expose Michigan Cancer Doctor

Earlier this week numerous former patients spoke against the doctor. Some of the victims who spoke never had cancer, others were over-treated and some had treatment for different cancers than the ones for which they were diagnosed because it brought in more money.

“I misused my talents, yes, and permitted this sin to enter me because of power and greed,” Fata told the court.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/whistle-blower-helped-expose-michigan-cancer-doctor-mistreated/story?id=32369291

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4083109-gold-bears-running-gas?isDirectRoadblock=false&uprof=45&utoken=45367700671014d860a163e327c403c5

Dog snack dupes dozens of parents, store apologises

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11876840

Definitely a COT Report that went in the right direction.

Not sure how significant it is coming after the move up the last couple of days. Gold and silver didn’t really move up all that much.

GLD has higher highs and higher lows since the bottom in Dec. 2016

Sure doesn’t feel like it, does it?

Maybe things should revert to all have to get insurance outside of work freeing up business plus tax payers for gov workers INCLUDING POLITICIANS.I bet then they’d sing another tune about medicare at 65 and SS with no pensions. As far as car fix it insurance it’s not the same as people. Not like they can say well you need a new kidney today less you really need one. Plus you can’t just make one. Unlike mechanics they can get in big trouble. Yes there are some crooked doctors who have including dentists. But if they get caught big trouble. I remember this Asian doctor that got caught preforming heart surgery a on people who didn’t need it.

The Commitment of Traders Report

Silver

*The large specs decreased their long positions by 6,702 contracts and increased their shorts by 7,275 contracts.

*The commercials increased their longs by 4,684 contracts and reduced their shorts by 8,395 contracts.

*The small specs increased their longs by 1,226 contracts and increased their shorts by 328 contracts.

Gold

*The large specs reduced their long positions by 44,558 contracts and reduced their shorts by 4,959 contracts.

*The commercials increased their longs by 5,094 contracts and reduced their shorts by 33,501 contracts.

*The small specs increased their longs by 3,015 contracts and increased their shorts by 2,011 contracts.

The large spec/commercial turnaround in positions was very substantial and will get some attention. Of course, and how typical, this occurred before gold and silver’s healthy moves higher these past two trading sessions.

Try to imagine employer supplied auto repair insurance. The drivers would stop by the mechanic, who would naturally find SOME thing he could justify fixing five years earlier than needed, like surface cracks in the rubber brake hoses or tires. Slight wear in the shock absorbers and ball joints.

I remember when I was a kid I caught the drift. You roll into the body shop for a dented fender. The first thing the body guy asks “Do you have insurance?” Good, we can charge for a new fender, and I’ll bondo up the damage, and you won’t need to pay the deductible.

Very few to none had medical insurance in factories. No unions in factories. Seemed like is was not allowed or promoted by gov’t. Gov’t needs various space and defense parts. Big business, the gov’t wants cheap materials and labor.  Only big corporations or public utilities, or civil service had health insurance and or unions.

If the metal work was real estate related, like duct work in buildings, that was all unionized. The favored child, r/e. In an industrial precision (plus or minus .005 to .031) sheet metal shop, $3.25/hr was top pay after 10 years of experience.

Duct work plus or minus 1/4 inch, thay got $30/hr plus benefits.

Do you remember I don’t. Did industrials offer health insurance to employees? I know hospitals did in the 70 s and cheap then ” not now” but even so many health baby boomers didn’t take it less they had kids. Health insurance is one of the precursors to increased prices. Obama care just another. Has medical stocks salivating. AMA wanting payment at once basically a blank check pushed it especially practically mandating them then mandating them, then we have brain dead politicians saying about rising cost including medicines OH INSURANCE pays for it anyways. WHO PAYS FOR THE INSURANCE. Then the other thing socialism did, pass on cost to non paying coming in from other countries to you.

You’ll have to read them and see how it can relate to costs going up. How it’s been turned into a business by AMA.
That is the common rumor going in its all the doctors fault. What we are getting is a lot of fireign doctors, some good some not so good not familiar with higher standard of medical care and dependent on computers. That’s where a lot of the it could be this or that comes in. Most are way over worked and also depeneent on patients ACCURATE and complete not partial description of symptoms in many cases because it tells them what to look at. Getting antibiotics is not raising heath costs especially when patients aren’t sure what’s going on to start since symptoms same or similar. Sometimes viral can cause secondary infections say fluid build up can cause bacterial build up. Diagnostic testing is important tool and usually not over prescribed because it usually takes certain symptoms or criteria to get one but yes MRIs are expensive. But they can make a early diagnosis a better outcome for someone say Cancer.
What I’ve seen is the opposite of under care. If treated for a infection for instance they should have a follow up. Under medicated which can cause resistance. Or having to wait causing something that was acute to cause damage or chronic in some cases. This can come by the overwhelming amout of patients a doctor has that can run into thousands now.
Then some are just neglective. I was waiting for test for a month for severe chest infection picked up from a patient so just got them set up myself said doctor too busy after so picked up results took them to a urgent care got treated then week after doctors office called from another Anerican doctor who wanted to see me and visiting her she said your doctor hasn’t even looks at anything yet she found it. I think he’s being fired from the group and had to switch doctors. So it doesn’t even matter if your in that field, best thing is try to find if can a good doctor and stick with them as long as they last these days.

There are other things to consider re high costs.  Nothing is higher or lower unless you compare it to something else. If there was no foreign completion for businesses and labor here, profits and wages would be a LOT higher, and the medical insurance costs would be reasonable in comparison. In fact, the costs might look cheap if profits and wages were extremely higher then 1968.

We have tax absorbing police that get about $175k plus free medical for life. They retire with $300 k packages, retire pay is high too. They get what is needed these days to maintain their 1970 middle class life style in this area. They kept up with cost of living increases. Most tax payers did not.

Nassau and Suffolk counties are having big cash flow problems these days. Average property tax bills are $12,000 and higher for a crappy cape code on a small lot 1/4 acre. Living in a waterfront house with a smelly canal in the back yard, $25,000 and up, I’ve even seen $35,000 tax on houses.

Recent news here Suffolk Co losing population. Departures out pacing arrivals. For every 100 houses for sale, 200 plus are delinquent, many can pay but just don’t. Look for yourself on Zillow, zip 11701. Free living.

Then we have all the homes damaged by Sandy, grants issued to raise the houses. Right after the storm another option was the sucker gov’t would buy the houses outright at pre storm values. Then auction them off to speculators at 20% of what the gov’t paid, and THEY raise the house. Typical they paid $100-$150k fix and raise, and sell for $500k and up.

Everybody else gets nothing.

That artical just gave a bunch of dates about various laws. It never mentioned the obvious reasons for higher prices. Number one is way too many have insurance, mostly free, so go too often to the Dr for no real good reason. They just take advantage, even if they sneeze, or bang their elbow go to the Dr.

Adding unneeded demand raises costs. Then we have Doctors that over prescribe everything. And they play games with insurance companies. I have much experience taking parents to various doctors that took 5 years each to die. Plenty of stories on that one. “If you say this, they can do that” was common. One Dr told me people come in with a viral infection, antibiotics won’t help,but patients want them and the Dr feels obligated to write an unneeded prescription.

And naturally probably another reason for higher costs is all these expensive MRI and various scanning machines, way beyond X rays. Nothing that I said above was in the article about reasons for higher costs.

Most everything in print these days is a distraction away from the truth. The only time the truth comes from them is after most people already know. All info is somebody’s agenda or advertisement.

Supply demand. When you grandfather arrived he was one of the few 100K that were allowed in and came legally. We got the motivated the independent mostly the best. Even other good from all over including Jews escaping Getmany then later innocent Germans escaping murder and prosecution fron other country’s couldn’t get in due to limits, Now they increased it to a million then extended family and millions of illegals.basically they let anyone in which started the problem. Kinda could of should of once hindsite were now getting the bad ones too. Yes illegals have bankrupted hospitals and schools too. That’s not to mention stress on resources including medical.
The article was based on facts.

I started reading that, got almost all the way down thinking they were your words until I saw the link. Re your…

“Imports had little to do with it unlike increasing population they refuse to look at with loose immigration policies.”

The “IT” part I’m not sure if its the economy or higher medical costs. But it was a bad idea to import people and export jobs at the same time. The proof is all around us. We used to have a nice hospital in our town since the late 1800s and the growing number of local minorities getting poorer as jobs left and wages dropped, combined with illegal poor immigrants, all using the emergency room literally bankrupted the hospital. They use to pay huge property taxes to the village. The owners had to knock all the building down, and its a big vacant lot now.

That stuff on that like is just a lot of distraction. Typical media b/s. I NEVER read that type of stuff until I got tricked. Thinking it was your knowledge and experience.   The bigger the story the bigger the lie.

but they also have the Bond mkt now as well…never thought they could achieve that …just unreal.

Imports had little to do with it unlike increasing population they refuse to look at with loose immigration policies. Perhaps only the ability to pay as time goes on. With in influence in gov including getting away with criminal costs then insurance companies won’t pay. Breathing meds, epipens once 7 dollars now while they get rich people are dying. As Armstrong said Gov can manage nothing. Now we have Cruz saying he’s working hard on a plan then complaining about it. They have no clue how they are the cause of rising prices rising faster than inflation.

The U.S. “health care cost crisis” didn’t start until 1965. The government increased demand with the passage of Medicare and Medicaid while restricting the supply of doctors and hospitals. Health care prices responded at twice the rate of inflation (Figure 1). Now, the U.S. is repeating the same mistakes with the unveiling of Obamacare (a.k.a. “Medicare and Medicaid for the middle class”).
In 1910, the physician oligopoly was started during the Republican administration of William Taft after the American Medical Association lobbied the states to strengthen the regulation of medical licensure and allow their state AMA offices to oversee the closure or merger of nearly half of medical schools and also the reduction of class sizes. The states have been subsidizing the education of the number of doctors recommended by the AMA.
In 1925, prescription drug monopolies begun after the federal government led by Republican President Calvin Coolidge started allowing the patenting of drugs. (Drug monopolies have also been promoted by government research and development subsidies targeted to favored pharmaceutical companies.)
In 1945, buyer monopolization begun after the McCarran-Ferguson Act led by the Roosevelt Administration exempted the business of medical insurance from most federal regulation, including antitrust laws. (States have also more recently contributed to the monopolization by requiring health care plans to meet standards for coverage.)
In 1946, institutional provider monopolization begun after favored hospitals received federal subsidies (matching grants and loans) provided under the Hospital Survey and Construction Act passed during the Truman Administration. (States have also been exempting non-profit hospitals from antitrust laws.)
In 1951, employers started to become the dominant third-party insurance buyer during the Truman Administration after the Internal Revenue Service declared group premiums tax-deductible.
In 1965, nationalization was started with a government buyer monopoly after the Johnson Administration led passage of Medicare and Medicaid which provided health insurance for the elderly and poor, respectively.
In 1972, institutional provider monopolization was strengthened after the Nixon Administration started restricting the supply of hospitals by requiring federal certificate-of-need for the construction of medical facilities.
In 1974, buyer monopolization was strengthened during the Nixon Administration after the Employee Retirement Income Security Act exempted employee health benefit plans offered by large employers (e.g., HMOs) from state regulations and lawsuits (e.g., brought by people denied coverage).
In 1984, prescription drug monopolies were strengthened during the Reagan Administration after the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act permitted the extension of patents beyond 20 years. (The government has also allowed pharmaceuticals companies to bribe physicians to prescribe more expensive drugs.)
In 2003, prescription drug monopolies were strengthened during the Bush Administration after the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act provided subsidies to the elderly for drugs.
In 2014, nationalization will be strengthened after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“Obamacare”) provided mandates, subsidies and insurance exchanges, and the expansion of Medicaid.

https://mises.org/blog/how-government-regulations-made-healthcare-so-expensive

Hasn’t ANYBODY ever noticed when you have to deal with someone in the “Service Industry” they ALWAYS want to SERVE you MORE than you REALLY need.

Auto body shops, plumbers, electricians, auto repair shops, restaurants, etc etc you name it and think about it. WATCH OUT when you go to the Doctor. You do NOT want to get over served. Only ONE service UNDER serves, the “free” US Public Education. Beware the gift.

George Carlin was a thinker, researcher, and free educator, on many subjects, sort of like Trump.

Warning, Very Bad Language included in video

My grandfather came here around 1906, had 8 kids wife not working, no medical insurance. My father had 5 kids, wife not working, no medical insurance. I had 2 kids, wife not working, no medical insurance.

We all worked in manufacturing factories. After 1975? I watched first hand the liquidation of America, via rat poison imports. Nobody except me and George Carlin saw a problem. I was the only one in my circle that saw a big problem in the future. And here we are. Nobody out of high school can afford anything anymore.

All the crap here came from Europe. I remember it started with HMOs.

Gop Senate is going to derail efforts to begin the end of Obama care.
They didn’t have a bill ready and probably didn’t want a bill.
There Bill they kept trying to pass under Obama wasnt a workable knd and just a prop for gullible conservatives.
Next will be a fight between GOP factions and house and senate republicans.
Senate is under lobbyist influence with camera hog actors like Rand. Graham, McCain and Cruz. They’ll squabble just to get air time while delaying Trump agenda. We’ll be lucky to get any bill to Trumps desk by end of year.
Senators are mad about losing the elections to him this year. Any bill the produce will start wars among the GOP senators and be flawed. Then they’ll get one back to the house for work then passage.
The House will fight the Senate just because the Senate dissed them.
At this point no more than 30 % chance. Conplats have warned GOP can’t lead and does not serve them.
They’ll prove it once again that we need a new party.

You don’t even have to speek to recognize your sense of humor.

…provided the image is permanent ( kiln baked into the glaze ) .

Do I hear more ?

Hi, good post, a picture is worth a thousand words. Get well soon. 🙂

I just noticed, on charts, GLD, and practically all the good miners on my watch list, have a one big above average volume bar on inly one day, June 16th.

Could it be some big mutual funds or ETFs all taking up positions during that one day? Look for yourselves.

Nice train pic.