High Heels
2010-02-17 - by
Maybe I’ve got this wrong but it seems like for years state government was bumbling and fumbling, but basically – except for the occasional road building scandal – honest. Now, times have changed. State government is still bumbling but its also learned chicanery and sleight of hand.
Follow this story from the newspaper the other day: WakeMed Hospital treated a prison inmate for trauma. Bill: $482,000. WakeMed’s cost: $133,000. WakeMed’s Explanation: By law they have to treat a lot of patients free, so they have to make up the losses wherever they can. Which is true – since we have the wackiest healthcare system on earth. And it’s equally true $482,000 is what the Perdue Administration – in advance – agreed to pay.
But, still, poor WakeMed landed on the front page of the newspaper with a black eye.
Which led the News and Observer to another story of chicanery involving lobbyists, Senator Tony Rand and Governor Perdue.
It seems that for some time the Department of Prisons – which is more practical than charitable – hasn’t been happy that part of its budget is helping subsidize hospital care for indigents.
So, last summer, the Department sent its lobbyists over to the legislature to pass a special bill. In effect, the prison officials said to legislators, Look, Medicare is the government program that pays hospitals the least. So, let’s pass a law that says the hospitals can only charge us 150% of what they’re charging Medicare.
That sounded reasonable but it sent the powerful Hospital Association – which lobbies for hospitals – into a tailspin: It sent its lobbyist to legislators and said that at a minimum the prisons ought to pay the hospitals the same thing the state pays for teachers and state employees – meaning the prisons would be paying a lot more than 150% of Medicare.
In short order the hospital’s lobbyists whipped the prison’s lobbyists and their version of the bill passed.
That sent the bureaucrats who run the State Employees Health Care plan into a tailspin; they said prisoners sure as heck ought to pay more than teachers for hospital care. It’s not clear how Blue Cross (which manages the State Employees Health Care plan) landed in the middle of this mess but a Blue Cross lobbyist talked to Senator Tony ‘The Fixer’ Rand and Rand fixed the problem – by repealing the law.
That made the State Employees bureaucrats happy. And the Hospital Association happy – because they were back to charging top rates. And the only ones worse off were the taxpayers.
Next the News and Observer got wind of what had happened and called Rand and asked, Did Blue Cross have anything to do with you to repealing that law? And Rand said, adamantly, No sir, Blue Cross didn’t have anything to do with it.
Well, three months later, the News and Observer got its hands on an email from a Blue Cross lobbyist to Rand’s assistant about repealing the law and the whole thing landed on the front page of the newspaper; in an eyeblink the News and Observer asked Rand, who Governor Perdue just made head of the Paroles Commission, about the email and Rand suffered a complete memory lapse, saying, “I remember very little…”
The moral of the story: Hospital lobbyists trump prison lobbyists. Blue Cross lobbyists trump both. And Tony Rand fusselled the newspapers and landed a plumb job in state government – thanks to Governor Perdue.
Ironically, the same day the story broke there was a picture in the paper of Governor Perdue climbing into a racecar wearing a Nascar driver’s suit and high heels – which seems to be a snapshot of how government works Perdue style.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats
High Heels
2010-02-17/
Maybe I’ve got this wrong but it seems like for years state government was bumbling and fumbling, but basically – except for the occasional road building scandal – honest. Now, times have changed. State government is still bumbling but its also learned chicanery and sleight of hand.
Follow this story from the newspaper the other day: WakeMed Hospital treated a prison inmate for trauma. Bill: $482,000. WakeMed’s cost: $133,000. WakeMed’s Explanation: By law they have to treat a lot of patients free, so they have to make up the losses wherever they can. Which is true – since we have the wackiest healthcare system on earth. And it’s equally true $482,000 is what the Perdue Administration – in advance – agreed to pay.
But, still, poor WakeMed landed on the front page of the newspaper with a black eye.
Which led the News and Observer to another story of chicanery involving lobbyists, Senator Tony Rand and Governor Perdue.
It seems that for some time the Department of Prisons – which is more practical than charitable – hasn’t been happy that part of its budget is helping subsidize hospital care for indigents.
So, last summer, the Department sent its lobbyists over to the legislature to pass a special bill. In effect, the prison officials said to legislators, Look, Medicare is the government program that pays hospitals the least. So, let’s pass a law that says the hospitals can only charge us 150% of what they’re charging Medicare.
That sounded reasonable but it sent the powerful Hospital Association – which lobbies for hospitals – into a tailspin: It sent its lobbyist to legislators and said that at a minimum the prisons ought to pay the hospitals the same thing the state pays for teachers and state employees – meaning the prisons would be paying a lot more than 150% of Medicare.
In short order the hospital’s lobbyists whipped the prison’s lobbyists and their version of the bill passed.
That sent the bureaucrats who run the State Employees Health Care plan into a tailspin; they said prisoners sure as heck ought to pay more than teachers for hospital care. It’s not clear how Blue Cross (which manages the State Employees Health Care plan) landed in the middle of this mess but a Blue Cross lobbyist talked to Senator Tony ‘The Fixer’ Rand and Rand fixed the problem – by repealing the law.
That made the State Employees bureaucrats happy. And the Hospital Association happy – because they were back to charging top rates. And the only ones worse off were the taxpayers.
Next the News and Observer got wind of what had happened and called Rand and asked, Did Blue Cross have anything to do with you to repealing that law? And Rand said, adamantly, No sir, Blue Cross didn’t have anything to do with it.
Well, three months later, the News and Observer got its hands on an email from a Blue Cross lobbyist to Rand’s assistant about repealing the law and the whole thing landed on the front page of the newspaper; in an eyeblink the News and Observer asked Rand, who Governor Perdue just made head of the Paroles Commission, about the email and Rand suffered a complete memory lapse, saying, “I remember very little…”
The moral of the story: Hospital lobbyists trump prison lobbyists. Blue Cross lobbyists trump both. And Tony Rand fusselled the newspapers and landed a plumb job in state government – thanks to Governor Perdue.
Ironically, the same day the story broke there was a picture in the paper of Governor Perdue climbing into a racecar wearing a Nascar driver’s suit and high heels – which seems to be a snapshot of how government works Perdue style.
Posted in General, North Carolina - Democrats