Florida officials first became aware that Centene owed the state money in 2021. At the time, Ohio, Mississippi and other states were reaching settlements with the Medicaid giant after it overbilled for prescription drugs.

The overbilling was uncovered by politically connected Mississippi law firms, which helped states negotiate settlements with Centene in exchange for millions of dollars in contingency fees, the New York Times reported last year.

The data the law firms used to calculate how much each state was owed is hidden from the public, the Times reported, making it impossible to know whether Centene paid its full share.

Florida signed on with one of the firms, Liston & Deas, in December 2021. Months earlier, other lawyers working with the firm on the Centene settlements donated $100,000 to the Republican Party of Florida and $10,000 to then-Attorney General Ashley Moody’s political committee.

  • adarza@lemmy.caEnglish
    9·
    19 days ago

    a whole lot moreworse than what the headline and article clip says:

    But instead of returning all $67 million to state and federal coffers, they sent $10 million of it to the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity overseen by first lady Casey DeSantis.

    The money was then sent to two nonprofit organizations that aren’t required to report how they spend their funds. Those “dark money” groups later gave $8.5 million to a political committee overseen by DeSantis’ chief of staff in a series of transactions that some Republican lawmakers believe was illegal. How Medicaid is allocated, which pays for healthcare services for the poor, is highly regulated.

    (emphasis mine)