Paying to Play: Health Care Companies, Campaign Contributions and the Medicare 'Drug Discount' Cards

[Guest guest]

Paying to Play: Health Care Companies, Campaign Contributions and the =

Medicare 'Drug Discount' Cards

June 1, 2004

.... Now, as the program is set to start, the White House has once again =

looked to its top campaign contributors in deciding which companies it =

approved to administer the cards. All told, the 73 companies selected =

gave President Bush and conservatives in Congress more than $5 million =

since 2000. Of those 73 companies approved by the administration, 20 =

(almost one third) have been involved in fraud charges. Those 20 =

companies made more than 60% of the total contributions to Bush and =

conservatives by drug card companies, calling into question whether the =

administration overlooked those companies' records because of their =

financial ties to the Bush Campaign.

Key Findings and Methodology

COMPANIES GAVE MORE THAN $5 MILLION TO BUSH/CONSERVATIVES: The 73 health =

care companies approved to administer the Medicare drug discount card =

programs gave President Bush and conservatives in Congress a total of =

more than $5 million in hard money, soft money, and PAC contributions.

TWENTY COMPANIES INVOLVED IN FRAUD APPROVED FOR DRUG CARD PROGRAM: =

Twenty health care companies approved by the Bush administration to =

administer the Medicare drug discount cards have been involved in fraud =

charges, with many being forced to pay fines to federal and local =

governments because of their behavior.

TWENTY COMPANIES INVOLVED IN FRAUD MADE OVER 60% OF CONTRIBUTIONS: The =

20 companies involved in fraud charges represent less than a third of =

all the approved companies. Yet, they made more than 60% ($3.1 million) =

of the total campaign contributions from approved drug card companies to =

President Bush and conservatives in Congress.

SEVEN " PIONEERS " LINKED TO COMPANIES APPROVED FOR DRUG CARD PROGRAM: =

Seven executives/lobbyists whose companies were approved for the drug =

card program raised or pledged to raise $100,000 or more for the Bush =

Campaign They are Wellcare executives Todd S. Farha and Hart; Blue =

Cross/Blue Shield of Florida executive R. Hightower; United =

Health Group CEO McGuire; Medco President Alan Lotvin; Express =

Scripts board member Skinner; and PacifiCare lobbyist Tom =

Loeffler.

THREE PIONEERS AT APPROVED COMPANIES THAT WERE INVOLVED IN FRAUD: Medco, =

Express Scripts and PacifiCare have all been involved in fraud charges, =

yet were approved by the Bush administration to participate in the =

Medicare discount drug card program. Medco is headed by Bush Pioneer =

Alan Lotvin, Express Scripts includes Bush Pioneer Skinner on its =

board, and PacifiCare's top lobbyist was Tom Loeffler.

METHODOLOGY OF STUDY: The analysis evaluated companies' campaign =

contributions to President Bush and conservatives in Congress since (and =

including) the 2000 election cycle. The analysis evaluated those =

companies' involvement in fraud charges during the same time period. For =

purposes of the study, companies " involved in fraud " were either found =

guilty of federal or state fraud, settled federal or state fraud charges =

or are currently under investigation for fraud at the state or federal =

level....