WellCare, Tenet Have More Than Probes in Common

"It doesn't take a pig farmer from Iowa to smell the stench of conflict in that arrangement."

The government wound up slapping Tenet with a huge fine before singling out Sulzbach for a new investigation this fall. Meanwhile, five years into an elusive "turnaround," Tenet itself continues to pay dearly for the wrongdoing that occurred on Sulzbach's watch.

Notably, Tenet's downfall began with an FBI raid of just one of its hospitals. Despite that narrow focus, however, analysts felt uneasy from the start.

"I think it surprised me just to see the sheer number of federal agents that descended on the hospital -- 44, I gather," one analyst noted in a conference call at the time. Added another: "To me, it seems interesting and almost overkill that there are 40 or so FBI agents who have landed in your facilities for two physicians who might be doing some procedures that are not, you know, customary and regular."

In the end, of course, Tenet faced a much broader investigation covering virtually every aspect of its operations.

Now, WellCare has been stung by an even larger raid -- with an estimated 200 government agents swarming its corporate headquarters -- and has offered no clues about the scope of the investigation. But investors have to be worried.