Author |
Topic: Medicare...the latest (Read 154 times) |
|
Lizzie2
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
"L'Chaim"~Hebre w Toast~"To Life"
 
Gender: 
Posts: 4458
|
 |
Medicare...the latest
« on: Sep 7th, 2004, 7:42pm » |
 Quote  Modify
|
Someone please tell me why I am going into health care as a profession? Reading stuff like this makes me want to cry!!!
Quote:GAO: Ex-Medicare Chief Should Repay Salary
1 hour, 28 minutes ago Add Politics - U. S. Congress to My Yahoo!
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The former Medicare administrator should repay his government salary because of his efforts to keep higher estimates of the cost of a prescription drug plan from Congress last year, congressional investigators said Tuesday.
The recommendation from the Government Accountability Office reignited the controversy over passage of the Medicare overhaul and questions about whether the Bush administration intentionally concealed its own estimates of the cost ? $100 billion more than the $400 billion it acknowledged ? to win support from conservative Republicans.
The release of the report follows last week's announcement that Medicare premiums for non-hospital care will rise a record $11.60 a month next year, which administration officials said was partly attributable to provisions of the new law.
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry (news - web sites) linked the concealment and premium increase in an appeal to older voters. "The Bush administration broke the law by covering up the true cost of their phony Medicare bill, and George W. Bush broke his promise to seniors in his convention speech when he told them Medicare was sound and then increased premiums by a record 17 percent the very next day," Kerry said.
Bill Pierce, a Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Department spokesman, said Democratic criticism of the prescription drug law is politically motivated. Pierce called on Democrats "to focus on the health of seniors instead."
The Associated Press reported last year that Thomas Scully, the Medicare chief until December, threatened to fire chief Medicare actuary Richard Foster to prevent him from giving the information to lawmakers.
Federal law prohibits a federal agency from paying the salary of an official who prevents another federal employee from communicating with Congress, GAO said.
"Because HHS was prohibited from paying Mr. Scully's salary after he barred Mr. Foster from communicating with Congress, HHS should consider such payments improper," GAO general counsel Anthony Gamboa wrote in a report to Democratic senators who requested it. "Therefore, we recommend that HHS seek to recover these payments."
Scully made $145,600 a year, Pierce said. The report appeared to call for repayment of roughly half of that.
An earlier report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service also concluded that the administration was wrong to keep the information from Congress.
Scully, who now works for a law firm and investment bank, said GAO never interviewed him. Asked whether he would return any of his salary, Scully said, "I'm not sure that's relevant. It's not up to GAO anyway."
Pierce said HHS will not ask Scully to return his salary. "We fundamentally disagree" with GAO, he said.
In a July report, the administration argued that no laws were broken. Scully "has the final authority to determine the flow of information to Congress," the HHS inspector general's office said.
The administration has adamantly refused to release Foster's estimates, even since the law's enactment in December. House Democrats have sued for the documents in federal court. The Associated Press, which sought the same materials under the Freedom of Information Act, received 13 pages that had previously been made public.
The administration withheld another 150 pages that HHS acknowledged are responsive to the AP's request. |
|
|
|
 IP Logged |
|
|
|
Charlie
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
Happy to be here
   
Gender: 
Posts: 14968
|
|
Re: Medicare...the latest
« Reply #1 on: Sep 7th, 2004, 10:05pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Quote:| Scully made $145,600 a year, Pierce said |
|
No doubt had wonderful Federal health insurance too. 
Charlie
|
|
IP Logged |
There is nothing more satisfying than being shot at without result---Winston Churchill
|
|
|
Donna_D.
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
OUCH needs volunteers
Gender:
Posts: 2618
|
|
Re: Medicare...the latest
« Reply #2 on: Sep 7th, 2004, 10:14pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Sep 7th, 2004, 7:42pm, Lizzie2 wrote:Someone please tell me why I am going into health care as a profession? Reading stuff like this makes me want to cry!!!
|
|
Because people get sick...and you care enough to help them.
Remember?
Love ya Lil' Sis!
DD
|
|
IP Logged |
 The information contained above is for the expressed use of fellow clusterheads and their supporters. Any misuse of this information by any of my "Ex's" is considered to be creepy and a form of harassment and will be duly noted by the ch.com webmaster 
|
|
|
Lizzie2
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
"L'Chaim"~Hebre w Toast~"To Life"
Gender:
Posts: 4458
|
|
Re: Medicare...the latest
« Reply #3 on: Sep 7th, 2004, 10:22pm » |
Quote Modify
|
on Sep 7th, 2004, 10:14pm, Donna_D. wrote:
Because people get sick...and you care enough to help them.
Remember?
Love ya Lil' Sis!
DD |
|
Ty Big Sis! I love you too!!!
Lil Sis
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
eyes_afire
New Board Hall of Famer
Gender:
Posts: 1227
|
|
Re: Medicare...the latest
« Reply #4 on: Sep 7th, 2004, 11:34pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Quote:Quote:Scully made $145,600 a year, Pierce said
No doubt had wonderful Federal health insurance too.
Charlie |
|
Well Charlie, at least he didn't pull a 'Tom Ridge' and start whining about not being able to afford to send his kids to college on his $175,000 salary. Ridge... what a fucking clown.
--- Steve
|
|
IP Logged |
Still around... in a brand new world now...
|
|
|
Lizzie2
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
"L'Chaim"~Hebre w Toast~"To Life"
Gender:
Posts: 4458
|
|
Re: Medicare...the latest
« Reply #5 on: Sep 8th, 2004, 12:07am » |
Quote Modify
|
on Sep 7th, 2004, 11:34pm, eyes_afire wrote:
Well Charlie, at least he didn't pull a 'Tom Ridge' and start whining about not being able to afford to send his kids to college on his $175,000 salary. Ridge... what a fucking clown.
--- Steve |
|
I started hating Tom Ridge when I began my education at Penn State. I was a music education major, and I was a member of a number of music educator organizations, including on the "exec board" of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educator's Association acting in roles of secretary and vice president. One thing I learned was that there are national standards of music education. These standards set the "rule" of music education for our youngsters.
A few states decided to take matters into their own hands. Tom Ridge made up a set of "music education standards" of his own because he felt that the national standards were asking too much...they were too high of a quality for our children. Yes, we..as music educators, were expecting our students to learn too much. He said that in the state of Pennsylvania, a music educator does not have to be certified. Thank GOD that most schools see past this idiocy and only hire certified teachers. He also wrote a set of standards designed for the type and quality of music education.
Basically...music education under Tom Ridge went into the crapper. Along with many other aspects of education and health care in the state of Pennsylvania.
I'd rather see him running homeland security. At least get him out of the state of Pennsylvania before the whole state goes straight to hell. I've shaken his hand on more than one occasion back when he was governor because of various things where I was so priveleged as to meet the governor of our fine state. Oy....I'm just glad he got pulled from PA. I cheered that day!!!
Lizzie
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
Help
Search
Members
Member Map
Login
Register
Reply
Notify of replies
Send Topic
Print
test rss