Tea Party event attendee shouts at Rick Scott

The question dogs gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott wherever he goes: What was your role in Columbia/HCA's Medicare fraud?

On Tuesday night, it was asked by a shouting, finger-pointing attendee at a South Florida Tea Party meeting in Delray Beach.

Scott, the front-runner in the GOP primary, calmly gave the same explanation he gives in his TV ads: The company made mistakes and he accepts responsibility because he was CEO.

``He didn't answer it,'' Harry Klein said after his confrontation with Scott. ``I wanted a simple answer that would have told us what happened. He did not answer the question.''

Columbia/HCA, the medical company Scott led for 10 years, pleaded guilty and paid $1.7 billion in criminal and civil fines following an FBI investigation into its Medicare billing practices. Scott was never charged and has denied knowing any fraud was taking place. Voters' willingness to accept that answer could determine whether Scott can beat Attorney General Bill McCollum, a fixture in Florida politics, in the Republican primary on Aug. 24.

``The only people that ask, that are fixated on Columbia/HCA, are reporters and McCollum campaign operatives,'' said Jen Baker, Scott's spokeswoman. ``People on the trail are asking him about jobs, jobs, jobs, and the economy and that's why there's support for Rick.''

Harry Klein and the other South Florida Tea Party event attendees who questioned Scott were planted there by the McCollum campaign, Baker said.

Scott, who has spent millions on TV ads, is running slightly ahead of McCollum in the latest polls. The Tea Partiers in Delray Beach also didn't like Scott's response to a question on whether one of his investments had received federal economic stimulus money.

``I think you'd better find out real soon!'' a member of the audience exclaimed after he said he wasn't sure. Xfone, a company in which Scott had a 17 percent stake in 2008, accepted $60 million in stimulus money.

Some Republicans give Scott credit for addressing Columbia/HCA head-on in his early television ads before McCollum even went on the air. Those spots helped Scott frame the issue and at least partly inoculate himself from McCollum's attacks.

``I'm gonna do something politicians won't -- give you the unvarnished truth,'' Scott says looking straight into the camera. ``I was in charge and was questioned by the authorities. But that's not what matters. What matters is that the company made mistakes. And as CEO, I take responsibility and learned from it.''

He then goes on to tout Columbia/HCA's successes.

But Tuesday's raucous Tea Party meeting suggests the issue is far from being put to rest.

``He avoided the question about the Medicare fraud,'' attendee Kathleen Colleran said after the meeting. ``That's the thing -- he has got to answer. He was president of the company. I want our questions clarified.''

In a civil lawsuit filed in 2001, the Justice Department said Scott and other company executives approved payments to doctors in Texas in an effort to induce the doctors to refer patients to Columbia hospitals. The Justice Department said the payments violated federal anti-kickback laws.

After Scott left Columbia/HCA, the company pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of making illegal kickbacks to doctors -- one of 14 felonies to which the company pleaded guilty -- and paid a $30 million criminal fine. The company paid more than $200 million in additional civil fines for making unlawful payments to doctors.

Miami Herald staff writer Scott Hiaasen contributed to this report.

Ridley Scott Plans User-Generated YouTube DocumentaryAnalysis: Rookie Rick Scott could shake up race for Florida governor