PrintJuly 3, 2009
Oh to Be an Obama Czar!
Obama’s health Czar, Nancy-Ann DeParle, has spent the last eight years making a fortune working for medical companies that have been under federal investigation for violating Medicare laws. Once again, Obama has managed to place a fox in the federal chicken coop with minimum criticism from the mainstream media.
The Investigative Reporting Workshop has the story:
Nancy-Ann DeParle … served as a director of corporations that faced scores of federal investigations, whistleblower lawsuits and other regulatory actions, according to government records reviewed by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.
Several of the companies were investigated for alleged kickbacks or engaging in other illegal billing schemes, while others were accused of serious violations of federal quality standards, including one company that failed to warn patients of deadly problems with an implanted heart defibrillator. Several of the cases ended with substantial fines paid to the federal government, even though the companies admitted no wrongdoing.
When Obama introduced DeParle, the President crowed about DeParle’s service in running Medicare under President Clinton. Obama failed to mention that DeParle made millions after she left government service to work in the private sector:
After leaving government, DeParle accepted director positions at half a dozen companies suspected of violating the very laws and regulations she had enforced for Medicare. Those companies got into further trouble on her watch as a director. Now she’s back in government as a leading voice in deciding the shape of health care reform.
Obama promised us “transparency” under his administration. One thing seems transparent enough: the potential for even more corruption with the appointment of DeParle.
Hat tip: my wife
