Hampton Regional Medical Center filed a lawsuit this month accusing Hampton County and the county’s insurance contractor of refusing to pay more than $300,000 in medical bills accrued by inmates of the Hampton County Detention Center.
According to the complaint, the hospital entered into a contract with the county in 2014 to provide medical care to detainees “admitted or brought to [HRMC] for either inpatient or outpatient care by or at the direction of the [Detention Center].”
The agreement allowed for a 25 percent discount on services if the hospital was paid within 30 days of receipt of a claim. But all claims the jail and its insurance carrier paid after 30 days were billed at 100 percent.
“Defendants have denied HRMC’s claims for payments for this medical care provided to Detention Center detainees, even though there is a contract wherein Defendants agree to pay HRMC for this care, and even though the detainees received this care at HRMC at the request of Defendants. In other instances, Defendants have only partially paid the invoices submitted by HRMC.”
The hospital is seeking the money it says it is owed, plus attorneys’ fees. Additionally, it is asking the insurance carrier — Southern Health Partners — to pay triple what they owe.
“There is no justification” for the nonpayment, the lawsuit states.
The suit is the latest indication that “something isn’t right” with Hampton County government’s finances.
According to reports — both from concerned citizens trying to get to the bottom of the matter and news agencies like Bluffton Today (also here) and WTOC — Hampton County appears to be missing more than $3 million in Capital Projects Sales Tax money.
The county also seems to be attempting to downplay the financial anomalies as a simple matter of following bad advice.
By state law, CPST money can only be spent on designated projects. In this case, the money was supposed to have gone toward building a new recreation center. Instead, the money is gone.
According to some — including Charles Laffitte, who is a “vocal supporter of recreation” and chairman of the board for Palmetto State Bank — the county seems to have been using the money for other purposes.
“It looks like to me that we have been using that money and putting it back. To me, it looks (like) the county is using fiduciary funds in their budget,” Laffitte was quoted as saying in a July 20, 2021, report in Bluffton Today.
Sound familiar?
Disgraced Hampton County attorney Alex Murdaugh stands accused of stealing more than $8.4 million from settlement funds over the course of at least 10 years. Elements of his alleged schemes involved at least two Palmetto State Bank executives — including Charles Laffitte’s son Russell, who was fired as CEO earlier this year, and Chad Westendorf, who continues to serve as vice president of the bank.
Sources have told FITSNews that at least one of the schemes involved Russell giving himself and Murdaugh large personal loans directly from settlement accounts that Russell was specially — and handsomely — paid to manage.
It is unclear what connection, if any, exists between Murdaugh and the county government. But as FITSNews continues to report on the widespread corruption that seems to have gone unchecked for generations in Hampton County’s legal and law enforcement spheres, the latest lawsuit and the “missing millions” are concerning.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Via: Provided)
Liz Farrell is the new executive editor at FITSNews. She was named 2018’s top columnist in the state by South Carolina Press Association and is back after taking a nearly two-year break from corporate journalism to reclaim her soul. Email her at liz@fitsnews.com or tweet her @ElizFarrell.
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