14 caught with hands in the cookie jar

14 charged in fraud scheme

A tip from one person who refused to participate in a health insurance fraud scheme has led to the arrests of 14 people accused of stealing more than $500,000 from the State and School Employees Health Insurance Plan.

State Attorney General Jim Hood said Thursday 10 state employees conspired with three Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Mississippi workers to submit fraudulent insurance claims. The 14th person was not employed by the state or the insurance company.

In return for approving the false claims, the Blue Cross/ Blue Shield workers got kickbacks from the state employees.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield administers the state and public school employees' self-funded insured plan.

A Blue Cross/Blue Shield spokesman couldn't be reached late Thursday.

But Hood said Blue Cross/Blue Shield alerted authorities to the scheme and has reimbursed the state-funded plan.

The 14 face charges of insurance fraud, mail fraud and false representation.

Insurance fraud carries a maximum three years in prison. Mail fraud carries a maximum five years in prison.

"They need to go to jail," Hood said. "They are taking from all of us."

Hood called the case the largest theft from the employee health plan since he was elected in 2003.

"We have a hard enough time now trying to get claims paid. We don't need people stealing from taxpayers," Hood said.

MBJ: Barbour maneuvering for healthcare lawsuit

Gov. Haley Barbour has reaffirmed his commitment to have Mississippi join the multi-state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare reform legislation approved by the U.S. Congress. Barbour made the announcement after Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, declined to file a lawsuit by noon, March 25, as asked by Barbour, a Republican.
And, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) has made public his “no” vote on the Senate healthcare “fix.”

“I’m trying to save the people of Mississippi from an enormous amount of taxes that would be caused by the Obama Administration’s healthcare plan,” Barbour said. “There is a pivotal constitutional argument that needs to be addressed: Does the federal government have the constitutional authority to force American citizens to buy insurance and then tell them what they can buy and at what price?

Hood notified Barbour March 25 that he needed more time to understand the complexities of a possible legal challenge. Fourteen states already have joined in a lawsuit seeking to stop the administration’s healthcare plan.

Barbour had said that if Hood refused to file the lawsuit, he would do it himself. However, in his March 25 response to Barbour, Hood said the case is under review, and the governor could not file a lawsuit as long as the review continued. Hood did not say how long that review might take.

Mississippi Business Journal

The Guv then let it be known with this Press Release that he had no intention of waiting despite Hood's insistance that the governor must wait on the Attorney General.

Governor Barbour to add Mississippi to list of states challenging Health Care Bill.

Barbour to AG: File health care suit or I will

The Associated Press

 Mississippi's Republican governor and lieutenant governor are asking the state's Democratic attorney general to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a sweeping federal health care bill.

 The legislation passed Sunday, and President Barack Obama plans to sign it into law Tuesday.

Gov. Haley Barbour said he will file a lawsuit himself if Attorney General Jim Hood does not make a decision by noon Thursday.

"A physician's creed is to 'First, do no harm,"' Barbour, who's head of the Republican Governors Association, said in a statement Monday. "The health care legislation passed Sunday infects the economy with harmful tax increases, strips benefits from senior citizens and robs each citizen of their basic freedom to choose their own health care."

Hood made no commitment Monday, saying only that once the bill is signed, "we will review the law to determine if there are any viable causes of action for the state of Mississippi."

Clarion Ledger

The Mississippi Business Journal also reported on the story saying

Lt. Governor Phil Bryant joined the Governor by sending a letter to Attorney General Jim Hood Monday, asking the Democrat to file a lawsuit on behalf of the state. See the press release and entire letter here.

Bryant says Mississippi should assert its rights under the 10th Amendment, which “protects states from an overbearing federal government.”

Mississippi is not the only state mulling a challenge to the healthcare bill. Washington, Utah and Nebraska are also thinking of suing, according to The Associated Press.

Entergy VP of Regulatory Affairs issues response to AG Hood

In the most recent in a continuing series of public statements, Mississippi’s attorney general questioned on Friday Entergy Corporation's recent transfer of $1.3 billion from its parent company to its nuclear division. The attorney general claims that Entergy Corp. has wrongfully transferred money from its regulated utilities to its nuclear businesses.

“This is just another in a long line of press releases issued by the attorney general making an attempt to tie unrelated items together in order to confuse Mississippi customers,“ said Bob Grenfell, vice president of regulatory affairs at Entergy Mississippi, Inc. “Our actions have been proper and in compliance with applicable federal income tax law. We are confident that had the attorney general contacted Entergy directly, we would have been able to answer his questions.”

Entergy officials encourage Attorney General Hood to closely review the company’s financial disclosures that are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as legally required of publicly traded companies.

“As always, Entergy Mississippi works hard to deliver the most reliable, affordable power possible to its customers,” added Grenfell.

Mississippi Tort Reform Faces "Judicial Nullification" Effort

By Alyson Bustamante Jones

Thanks to the leadership of Governor Haley Barbour and a legislature which has understood the corrosive effect unmeritorious vexatious litigation has on a state's judicial system and its ability to attract new business and grow the economy, Mississippi has transformed its civil justice system and its prior litigious image through targeted tort reforms. When posed with similar legislative reforms in other states, trial lawyers have engaged in a full frontal assault against these efforts at tort reform by attempting to nullify the laws under the state constitutions with mixed and more recently unsuccessful results. This "judicial nullification" effort has migrated to Mississippi, where plaintiffs' lawyers have taken aim at provision of the state's tort reform.

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