Hagel Asks for Explanation of Medicare Estimates

[Renew Deal]

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) today sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson asking for an explanation of charges the Administration intentionally withheld higher cost estimates during the Medicare reform debate last year. Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Richard Foster had estimated the cost of last year’s Medicare reform bill at $534 billion, $139 billion higher than congressional estimates. Mr. Foster has charged in recent news accounts that his cost estimates were intentionally suppressed and that he was threatened with termination if he revealed his higher cost figures to Congress.

In the letter to Secretary Thompson, Hagel said, "I understand that he has claimed in media accounts that his cost estimates showing higher cost figures than were announced by the Bush Administration were intentionally suppressed during last year’s Medicare debate, and that he was threatened with termination if he revealed the higher cost figures to Congress."

"While I am not surprised that the estimated cost of the new bill far exceeds official Congressional Budget Office figures, I am very concerned about these allegations and the possible threats against Mr. Foster," Hagel said in the letter.

"I would like to know if Members of Congress requested cost estimates from the Chief Actuary for the Medicare bill, and whether those requests were addressed. If the requests were not answered, why not? And what do you know about the threat of termination and withholding information from Congress that is alleged by Mr. Foster," Hagel concluded in the letter.
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http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?155529

[jbfam4]

1. Good for Hagel

Is he still upset that McCain didn't win? Thanks for posting this good article.

[central scrutinizer]

2. maybe he can run the figures through

one of the BBV machines he owns and see if comes out better for Bushco. Hagel is a crook who lied about owning the very voting machines that counted the votes in his election and had to resign his post as chair of the Senate Ethics Committee (talk about oxymorons!) when it came out. But I guess he must be very popular - never before had a white Republican carried African American precincts in Omaha. <sarcasm off>

[Deja Q]

3. More fuzzy bush* math.

Bush... stinking offal he is... one of the true dregs of society... as perfidious as he can be. Perfidious to America and Americans.

He has the audacity to cheat more Americans after his putrid tax cuts of choice for choice people, and then his war of choice (Iraq)...

He's a pusillanimous pathetic pig.