The latest attack against Rick Jackson in this runoff campaign claims that Jackson participated in a scheme against seniors for medicare fraud. The claim is false. The truth is that Jackson worked with the Department of Justice in an investigation, not as a subject of the investigation.
At this point as you read, you are either: (1) already supporting Rick Jackson and recognized this hit piece for what it is, a political ad that has no basis in fact, or, (2) you are supporting Rick’s opponent, in which case no matter what the fact check says you will not be convinced.
There is a third group and that is for whom I write. You have seen the hit pieces and you take it with a grain of salt. You want the truth and will make up your mind based on facts, not ads from the opposing party.
So, I’ll set the record straight – again. This time regarding the medicare investigation.
Savannah independent investigative reporter Shea Schrader with WTOC television looked into this and reported over a month ago. The reporter found no evidence of Jackson or his company committing Medicare fraud or scamming senior citizens.
You know that investigative reporters are always looking for a big story to break open. There was no story here regarding Jackson other than the false allegations in a political advertisement.
Here is what happened. In 2024, the Department of Justice opened a case against a company named “Nationwide.” Jackson does not own or operate Nationwide.
Nationwide used telemarketers to contact people on Medicare. Using the information from the phone calls, Nationwide would generate a physician order for medical equipment. A physician, Dr. Edward Salko would sign the order.
Just how did Jackson’s name get involved in this? Jackson owns a physician staffing company and responded to a request for proposal from Nationwide to place Edward Salko as contractor with Nationwide.
As with any staffing company placement, neither Jackson nor any of his companies or subsidiaries had anything to do with the management and business practices of Nationwide. His company got a request for a physician and agreed to place a physician. End of story.
When Jackson learned of the investigation against Nationwide, he immediately and fully cooperated with the federal authorities to help get to the bottom of the scam. He also did two more things.
First, when the Justice Department showed him how the scammers were working, he changed his staffing practices and, according to the Justice Department, “took significant remedial actions.”
The second thing he did was to pay a civil settlement of $700,000 to clear his name in the matter. Now, I know you have the same question I would have. If he was innocent, why pay $700,000?
$700,000 is a ton of money to you and me, but for a corporation doing several billion dollars in business each year, there is always a point weighing costs. The settlement was just that, a settlement. It admitted no wrong doing.
Let me bring this down to a comparison that mere mortals like you and me can understand. Have you ever received one of those camera traffic tickets in the mail for speeding in a school zone at 9:00 pm during the summer when school is out of session?
The ticket says to pay $200 or you can come to court and appeal. The fact is that most people will log in, pay the $200 and be done with it.
In this case Rick Jackson or his company never even got a ticket in the mail about this. He did not want his time and resources being spent for a crime he never committed or had any involvement in. He only provided a staffing resource.
As I said earlier, if you are supporting Rick Jackson, you didn’t need this e-mail. If you are against Rick Jackson already, nothing in this e-mail will change your mind.
My hope is that many readers will be those who seek the truth first, and then make up your mind. I trust that this explanation will help you resolve the question of medicare fraud.
Just think of getting one of those traffic-cam tickets and you will have a better understanding of how this is nothing more than a political hit piece that even an independent investigative reporter could not find anything to support the claim.
So there. I’ve set the record straight – again.
