I read the May 25 letter to the editor by Sue Rewak regarding The Everett Clinic and DaVita merger with much interest. I too, have been a patient of The Everett Clinic for many years going back to 1972.
My care over the years by the clinic’s doctors and staff has been excellent and continues to be today.
From the time I learned of the merger, I had reservations because I was aware of the legal issues that DaVita was going through due to fraudulent billings to Medicare. My concern was the effect it would have on patient care and the possible change from a local health care provider to being a small part of a national chain of clinics.
The following are some of the items that DaVita illegally billed Medicare for:
Compensating doctors illegally for referring patients; fraudulently billing the U.S. government for free supplies of Epogen, an anemia drug made by Amgen; illegal kickbacks and many other unethical business practices that defrauded Medicare and the taxpayer billions of dollars.
Recently DaVita, due to binding arbitration paid out more than $33 million to a group of its former physicians in a dispute over the sale to DaVita Healthcare.
DaVita, (The Everett Clinic) tried to classify this as a merger rather than a sale.
I am saddened to think that the Everett Clinic I have known for most of my life is now part of a company so big that it will possibly lose its hometown effect to the point that profit outweighs patient care.
Having said the above, I continue to be apprehensive of what DaVita’s intentions are for the future of the Everett Clinic and the impact it may have on its patients.
Earl M. Haas
Lake Stevens
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