Dutch Rojas Profile picture
Jun 5 โ€ข 10 tweets โ€ข 4 min read โ€ข Read on X
๐’๐‡๐Ž๐๐โ€”๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐’๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐š๐ค๐š ๐‘๐ˆ๐๐Ž๐…๐… ๐“๐š๐ฑ ๐๐š๐ฒ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐”๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐š๐ข๐

The most elegant heist in modern American historyโ€”and almost no one in Congress can explain it.

Letโ€™s dissect this scheme the way youโ€™d dissect any imperial fraud:
With facts, flow, and a little fire.

A Thread...๐Ÿงต
Imagine a 17th-century monarchy so broke it begins taxing its own nobilityโ€ฆ
Only to send the money back with royal interest, using a fake charity as cover.

Thatโ€™s SHOPP. Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program

A fake tax, a fake payment, and real federal cash.
1/ Image
Bookmark this.
You wonโ€™t hear it in committee hearings.

This isnโ€™t good policy or reform.
Itโ€™s racket wrapped in a series of lies.

And the people profiting?
Theyโ€™re not on your side.

The virtue-signalers.
The academic frauds.
The bipartisan swamp.

They all eat while patients wait.

Follow @DutchRojas if youโ€™re done playing dumb.
This thread is your permission to stop pretending.
2/Image
๐‡๐ž๐ซ๐žโ€™๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ ๐š๐ฆ๐ž ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ:

โ€ขHealth Systems โ€œdonateโ€ money to the state (this is the โ€œtaxโ€)
โ€ขThe state labels it as a Medicaid provider payment
โ€ขThat triggers a federal match (up to 2:1 or more)
โ€ขThe state sends the bloated payment right back to the same hospitals
โ€ขThe hospitals get more than they gave
โ€ขThe state keeps the spread

๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž.
๐ˆ๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก-๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ฒ ๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐š๐ข๐ ๐š๐ซ๐›๐ข๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ ๐ž.
3/Image
๐˜๐จ๐ฎโ€™๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐š ๐ฌ๐œ๐š๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐›๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐›๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐š๐ฅ.

But 49 out of 50 U.S. Senators couldnโ€™t explain what SHOPP even is.
Most donโ€™t know it exists.

The rest are funded by the same health systems that profit from it.

Weโ€™re not witnessing ignorance.
Weโ€™re witnessing institutional capture.
4/Image
Letโ€™s talk scale:

โ€ขOklahoma SHOPP = $1.4B

โ€ขTexas variant = $5B+

โ€ขCaliforniaโ€™s Medicaid tax loop = $9B+

โ€ขFlorida, New York, Illinois = similar stories

In total, tens of billions in synthetic Medicaid spendingโ€”recycled through state books to unlock a federal ATM.

Yes, Taxpayers are paying 2x for the same.
Once via State income tax and again Federal tax.
5/Image
And where does it go?

Not to patients.
Not to outcomes.
Not to rural physicians.

It goes to:

โ€ขLobbyists
โ€ขBondholders
โ€ขConstruction projects
โ€ขExecutive bonuses
โ€ขAnd โ€œnonprofitโ€ systems that behave like sovereign hedge funds

6/ Image
And whoโ€™s left out?

โ€ขIndependent physicians: no facility, no bonus
โ€ขClinics and ASCs: blocked by policy
โ€ขPatients: fewer options, longer waits
โ€ขTaxpayers: footing the bill for corporate welfare

This isnโ€™t a public health program.
Itโ€™s a capital market subsidized by the federal government, cleverly disguised as Medicaid.
7/Image
This is not accidental. Itโ€™s engineered.

Medicaid is now the largest source of bonus cash for U.S. health systems.
But only if you play the game at scale.

If youโ€™re small, ethical, or independent?
You get scraps.

Thatโ€™s not a market.
Thatโ€™s a protection racket. Image
This is how empires collapse.

Not from war.
From internal theft disguised as benevolence.

RT this thread.
Tag a Senator.
Ask them what SHOPP is.
Watch them fumble.

@DutchRojas Image

โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข

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More from @DutchRojas

Jun 6
The Medicaid Grift Nobody Wants to Talk About

It starts in Westwood.

A patient walks into UCLA Health for a routine checkupโ€”CPT 99213.
Fifteen minutes.
Maybe less.

The patient thinks sheโ€™s seeing a doctor.

What she doesnโ€™t know?
Sheโ€™s stepping into one of the most profitable transactions in American healthcare.

Letโ€™s break it down.

A ๐Ÿงตโ€ฆ
Scene 1:
Same Patient, Different Doctor

If sheโ€™d walked into a small private clinic five blocks awayโ€ฆ

The doctor wouldโ€™ve billed Medicaid directly.
โ€ขGotten paid $42.17.
โ€ขCovered rent, payroll, malpractice.

And probably lost $50 on the visit.

Thatโ€™s not bad business.
Thatโ€™s Medicaid.
1/
Scene 2:
Inside UCLA Health
@UCLAHealth

But she didnโ€™t go to the private clinic.
She walked into UCLA Health.

And thatโ€™s where the math changes.

UCLA isnโ€™t just the health system.

Theyโ€™re partners in the Medicaid plan.

Hell!
They own the building.
They set the rules.
They cash every check!

Letโ€™s do the numbers for this visit.

$425 per month capitation payment from the state.

$200+ โ€œinternalโ€ provider payment

$150 facility fee

$75โ€“$125 in poverty bonuses (SHOPP, DSH, UPL)

GME subsidy if a resident walks into the room

340B drug profits if any prescriptions are written

Total revenue from one Medicaid visit?

Over $700.

2/
Read 9 tweets
Jun 1
The Healthcare Vampire Squid:
How BlackRock & Vanguard Ate American Medicine
By @DutchRojas

While youโ€™re fighting a denial at 2 AM, theyโ€™re making billions on your CPT codes.

This isnโ€™t conspiracy.
This is Wall Street healthcare capture.

Letโ€™s go.
๐Ÿงต Image
2/ Start with a game:
Pick any major health insurer:

UnitedHealth
Elevance (Anthem)
Cigna
Humana
Centene

Now look up the top shareholders.
Same two names every time:

BlackRock. Vanguard.
3/ Bookmark this thread.
Most physicians have no idea who actually owns American healthcare.
They think itโ€™s politics.
Itโ€™s portfolios.
Read 12 tweets
May 29
On paper, Senator Rand Paul appears to be a free market ally: libertarian credentials, medical degree, vocal opposition to government overreach.

But when it comes to healthcare, where the most egregious examples of regulatory capture, price distortion, and monopolistic abuse reside, Paulโ€™s record is, at best, indifferent.

At worst, it enables the very cartel behavior he claims to oppose.

This thread ๐Ÿงตoutlines the facts.
Not the slogans.
Not the soundbites.
Just the receipts.

@RandPaulImage
The Myth of the Free Market Champion

Rand Paul brands himself as a crusader for individual liberty.

Heโ€™s built a national platform by opposing vaccine mandates, criticizing the NIH, and warning against federal overreach.

But behind the curtain, in the committee rooms where policy is shaped, Paul has consistently refused to engage on the actual market failures in American healthcare:

He has never led the charge to repeal the moratorium on physician-owned hospitals, despite being one of the only physicians in the Senate.

He has taken no action to champion site-neutral payments, the single most bipartisan policy lever to reduce price disparities and level the playing field between independent physicians and hospital-owned monopolies.

He has offered no support to repeal Certificate of Need laws in Kentucky despite Kentucky being one of the most CON-heavy states in the country.

He has not fought to expose 340B abuses, GME manipulation, or the way nonprofit health systems weaponize tax exemptions to crush competitors and consolidate power.
2/Image
The Physician Paradox

Letโ€™s not forget: Rand Paul is an ophthalmologist. Heโ€™s one of the few people in Congress who knows what itโ€™s like to run a practice, see patients, and deal with the bureaucratic chokehold of modern medicine.

That makes his absence on pro-physician, pro-market healthcare reform not just disappointing, itโ€™s indefensible.

While physician-owned practices across the country are being swallowed by health systems backed by tax-free debt and nonprofit status advantages, Senator Paul is silent.

While independent physicians face predatory payer behavior and unjustified reimbursement cuts, heโ€™s focused on Fauciโ€™s emails.

3/
Read 9 tweets
May 24
UCLA Health (@UCLAHealth)

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜€
๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Ž๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜“๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ.

A thread ๐Ÿงต on velvet cartels,
tax-free empires and ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ in California healthcare.
1/ Image
@UCLAHealth ๐—จ๐—–๐—Ÿ๐—” ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ โ€œ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜.โ€

But ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜น-๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ:
โ€ข Sky-high prices
โ€ข Billions in real estate
โ€ข $2M+ executive payouts
โ€ข And some of the stingiest charity care in California.
2/ Image
๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€:

โ€ข $0 federal income tax
โ€ข $0 California state tax
โ€ข $0 property tax

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ, ๐—จ๐—–๐—Ÿ๐—” ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐˜€ ๐—”๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ.

You pay rent.
They hoard buildings.
And the IRS calls it charity.

@GOPHELP
@SenateDEMS

3/Image
Read 12 tweets
May 15
UnitedHealth just lost $288 billion.

The CEO vanished.
The DOJ is circling.

But sure, tell me again how โ€œessentialโ€ they are.

A thread ๐Ÿงตon the implosion of Americaโ€™s biggest health insurer @UHC โ€”and what it says about our system:
[1/] Image
UnitedHealth ($UNH), the largest health insurer in the U.S., is under federal criminal investigation for possible Medicare fraud.

Stock is down 50%.
CEO Andrew Witty โ€œresignedโ€ for personal reasons.

Investors are stunned.
Patients?
Just trying to get someone to approve their MRI.
[2/]Image
This isnโ€™t just a company collapsing;
itโ€™s the entire healthcare industry revealing its true nature.

If youโ€™re saving this, you must definitely follow @DutchRojas.
He has been highlighting these issues for years.

Healthcare isnโ€™t failing;
itโ€™s operating exactly as it was intended to.
[3/]Image
Read 10 tweets
May 14
๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐˜ $๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ท๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ผ.
๐˜›๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ต $308.01

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฝ.
Thatโ€™s a controlled demolition.

Letโ€™s talk about the โ€œmarket correctionโ€ nobodyโ€™s calling what it is.

#HealthFinance #UNH @UHCImage
๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ:
๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜„๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ.

Translation:
The house bet on sick patients not being too sick.
The house lost.

Actuaries are re-running the numbersโ€”and sweating.

But don't worry, there are some "influencers" on X on LinkedIn who know better.
Go ahead and buy the dip.
You said you were going to 3 weeks ago...

As usual, they were just talking
And they were wrong 3 weeks ago, and they are wrong today.

#MedicareAdvantage
#InsuranceMath
2/Image
Reason 2:
Leadership chaos.

๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ปโ€”๐—–๐—˜๐—ข ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒโ€”๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต.
Yes, murdered.
The media went dark.
Wall Street went quiet.

But insiders are whispering: โ€œThis isnโ€™t business as usual.โ€

#UNH #LeadershipCrisisImage
Read 10 tweets

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