Inquiry Confirms Top Medicare Official Threatened Actuary

[No Mandate Here.]

Over Cost of Drug Benefits

<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/07/politics/07medicare.html>


WASHINGTON, July 6 - An internal investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services confirms that the top Medicare official threatened to fire the program's chief actuary if he told Congress that drug benefits would probably cost much more than the White House acknowledged.

A report on the investigation, issued Tuesday, says the administrator of Medicare, Thomas A. Scully, issued the threat to Richard S. Foster while lawmakers were considering huge changes in the program last year. As a result, Mr. Foster's cost estimate did not become known until after the legislation was enacted.

But neither the threat nor the withholding of information violated any criminal law, the report said. It accepted the Justice Department's view that Mr. Scully had "the final authority to determine the flow of information to Congress.'' Moreover, it said, the actuary "had no authority to disclose information independently to Congress.''

Mr. Scully, who resigned in December, in part to become a lobbyist for health care companies, had denied threatening Mr. Foster but had acknowledged having told him to withhold the information from Congress.

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I added the bold type. Looks like another graduate from the Rove/*/Cheney school of ethical politics... This is on the lead page of NYTimes.com, but probably buried on page 9,326,003 in the real paper, and I doubt we will see it on any broadcast news. (I wonder how I got so cynical)

[koopie57]

1. I'm sending this to my

no-good scum sucking representative, Mark asshole Kennedy. I already wrote him and asked him how he could brag about this new medicare bill when he was lied to by the wh, duped and voted to approve this disaster. I explained to him that he was made a fool of and still he is bragging about this.

[Bandit]

2. I thought lying to Congress was a crime... How foolish of me

When you deliberately withhold information you are in a very real sense Lying. You are giving a false impression. I guess in Bush* Amerika it is quite alright to lie to Congress. They are insignificant anyway. The Emperor makes all decisions.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. You're right, this is a big story..

about a clear-cut abuse of power, affecting millions of Americans. This is a perfect example of the failure of the vast majority of our press to do its job, and report to the people what they should and need to know, in a way that is clear to them.

[struggle4progress]

4. kick for thuggery

:kick: