The Wall Street Journal moves the ball forward in a major way today on the Medicare cost estimate scandal, obtaining a copy of an email written during congressional debate in which Medicare’s actuary was warned specifically not to share the truth with Congress.
Specifically, the actuary was told to “work up the numbers,” and was warned, “The consequences for insubordination are extremely severe.”
Medicare’s chief actuary was warned last year that he could be accused of “insubordination” if he shared information with Congress about a White House-backed prescription-drug bill without the approval of his politically appointed superiors, according to e-mails he has made public.
The June 20 directive to Medicare actuary Richard Foster came in an e-mail from the top aide to Thomas Scully, then the administrator for the health-care program. “Work up the numbers and share them with Tom Scully only. NO ONE ELSE” reads the message from Jeffery Flick, the last portion in bold-faced capital letters. A second warning, also in bold-face, follows in the same message: “The consequences for insubordination are extremely severe.”
Mr. Scully, now a private consultant in Washington, has denied he threatened to fire the actuary, whose office has traditionally been a source of independent assessment of Medicare costs.
Scully can deny all he wants, but the email the WSJ obtained speaks for itself. If the line about “extremely severe” consequences for “insubordination” were not a threat to fire Foster, what did the comment mean?
Of course, the email bolsters Foster’s story and more or less gets him off the hook. Sure, it was his job to release accurate data about the costs of the plan, but it now appears obvious that he was forced to withhold information from lawmakers.
The email also suggests a coordinated approach to deceive members of Congress.
The e-mail exchange begins with the actuary informing Mr. Scully of three information requests, one from a Republican and two from Democrats. Mr. Foster promises to provide advanced copies of “our intended response.” The answer from Mr. Flick, then Mr. Scully’s administrative assistant, says the answer to the first request, from House Republicans, can proceed. But the remaining two, both from Democrats, should be held until Mr. Scully authorizes the release.
“Tom was very explicit,” writes Mr. Flick, who didn’t return several phone calls.
The CBO is the official arbiter for the cost of all bills, and Mr. Scully has always insisted that Democrats were fishing for information no longer relevant to the legislation. But according to the e-mail exchange, one Democratic request dealt with one of the most important sections of the final legislation — and the biggest single cost discrepancy between Mr. Foster’s estimates and those of the CBO.
This certainly isn’t going away. In fact, we may be learning more once we get some of these folks under oath.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R., Calif.) has signaled that Mr. Foster may testify publicly next week before his panel, where the actuary is sure to be questioned on the matter. Democrats are demanding to know more about any communications between Mr. Scully and the White House related to the actuary’s role. “This decision was made higher up,” says Rep. Robert Matsui (D, Calif.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Hmm. How much “higher up”?