HealthSouth Paid For Someone's Fake Boobs
Most medical company execs get dinged for being too stingy with their company's funds. But it's quite the opposite for former HealthSouth bossman Richard Scrushy, who was quite the giver.
When Scrushy's wife needed funding for her underwear business, Scrushy came through with company cash. Scrushy also spread the wealth on vacations for which he had the company pick up the bill. And lest you think Scrushy would exploit his personal, publicly-held piggy bank only for himself, shareholders suing him for nearly $3 billion accounting fraud in a civil suit are now accusing him of covering breast implants.
When a performer in the girl band 3rd Faze, which he founded, needed an emergency boob job, Scrushy generously covered the operation.
"It was a medical emergency," to pay more than $4,000 to replace the woman's breast implants because she got sick from the previous ones while on tour, Scrushy said.
The band performed in shows that tried to persuade kids to stay in school and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Although things look bad for Scrushy, remember that he beat criminal fraud charges in 2005 for nearly running the company into the ground by book-cooking. Guy's as slick as O.J, and his lawyers will argue that the only thing he was guilty of was having a heart that was too big.
Scrushy Says HealthSouth Paid for Woman's Implants [Bloomberg]
(Photo:kusine)
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Comments:
That photo is perfect.
Yeah, I didn't know people still used Tripod. I maybe they couldn't get the one they wanted on Angelfire. Is this 1998?
@unobservant: Check the title: "3rd Faze Fan Site". I don't think that is their official site. That being said, I can't find anything better that isn't on Yahoo music, VH1, Amazon, etc.
Hmm... Melons. I see what you did there.
The band performed in shows that tried to persuade kids to get boob jobs, stay in school and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
There. Fixed!
Point of clarification- HealthSouth isn't an insurance company. They operate "rehabilitation centers" - ie physical therapy and the like.
My wife's company was acquired by HealthSouth in mid-late 1990s. She had to go to Birmingham to attend a company event, where they brought down all the recently acquired P.T. clinics throughout the U.S. She said it was the 'nuttiest thing ever, almost cult-like, groupthink, where if you "didn't do it their way, it was the highway."
Glad to see round 2 against this guy, because justice wasn't served first time around (that's a whole story in itself, how he was able to get churches to support that he was innocent).
So, it should be considered elective surgery to treat a leaking implant? I'm sure there are other things over which there should be more rage. I can understand that maybe they should not have paid for the cost of the replacement, but at a minimum they should remove the defective one, and at that point, why not put in the replacement at the same time, at the patient's expense? Also, knowing nothing about implants, I wonder if something like that should be covered by a warranty?
And I thought I put one over on my health insurance carrier when I passed off an air purifier as a medical device.
HealthSouth killed my grandfather.
@purplegrog: If the original surgery which caused the complications in the first place was not authorized by the insurance company, then procedures related to complications of that surgery are usually not covered either.
To use an example I see pretty often in my line of work, if someone gets a gastric bypass and pays for it him or herself because insurance won't cover it, any subsequent problems arising from that gastric bypass won't be covered either. If it's an emergency situation the hospital and doctor have to treat you, but it doesn't mean the insurance has to pay for it.
@DrGirlfriend: Causation being difficult to pinpoint, I'm sure the insurance company will deny any and all claims, since the unauthorized procedure could be to blame.
Scrushy should be the name of someone who likes to Scrush fake boobs a lot. I wonder if her emergency replacements were bigger than the leaking ones.
America's parasitic CEO class strikes again.
@ThinkerTDM: Well, if you're going to insist on being literal, I think you'd at least want a bit of flesh and some skin covering the implants.
Guys,
I think that that was BILLION DOLLAR FRAUD not million dollar fraud. And I thought it was $4 BILLION, but I could be off a little (what is BILLION between friends). And "his band" was a joke. They were his buddies/cronies/partners-in-crime, untalented at that, and, well, I have to stop there lest I spend the rest of my day going on about how Richard Scrushy sucks and screwed HealthSouth, their investors, their employees, and the city of Birmingham, which really can't take any more screwing...
I did just find a firmer number: $2.7 BILLION.
Yes, when he screws people he makes it worth their (and his) time.
@dragonfire81: They wouldn't fix his leaking implant?
I'm rather bitter towards insurance companies myself ever since my own grandfather's insurance policy refused to cover his cancer treatments when he got skin cancer. They claimed it was due to a lifestyle choice from excessive sun exposure, like how they attribute lung cancer to smoking. (He was a farmer...)
They eventually paid for the costs, but not till after he passed away.
@wardawg: Your grandfather's story breaks my heart. The insurance company knew your grandfather's profession, so presumably, his "lifestyle choice" was built into his risk profile and consequently, his premiums.
I'm starting the 10th circle of hell reserved specifically for executives of health insurance companies, cable companies, dodgy fund managers and shady mortgage brokers.
@UnicornMaster: So, what goes on there? Is it full of brimstone and large stone laundry mangles to feed the damned through, or is it something more ironic?
HealthSouth is mentioned in Mollie Ivins book "Bushwacked" so the company has a long history of shadiness.
Maybe someone can distinguish between Silicon and Silicone - one is for computer chips and the other is for fake boobies.
Covering breast implants? What's the use of getting them if you are just going to cover them?