GovernmentExecutive.com

The Health and Human Services Department should seek to recover the salary paid Thomas Scully, the former Medicare administrator, for barring one of his employees from giving lawmakers the cost estimates of the prescription drug bill, according to a GAO opinion released Tuesday.

Paying Scully -- who has since left the administration -- violates the law that bans the use of appropriated funds to pay the salary of an official who prohibits another federal employee from providing information to Congress, GAO found. While Congress was debating the Medicare bill earlier this year, Scully threatened to fire chief Medicare actuary Rick Foster if he gave the cost estimates to lawmakers.

"Mr. Scully's prohibition [on the actuary] made HHS' appropriation, otherwise available for payment of his salary, unavailable for such purpose," GAO found.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., had requested the GAO ruling.

Democrats have charged that Congress would not have passed the Medicare law -- which passed by a narrow margin -- if the administration's higher cost estimates had been made public.

"The Bush administration went so far as to break the law in order to hide information about their flawed Medicare plan," Lautenberg said in a statement Tuesday. "This was a corruption of the process at the highest levels. President Bush's former Medicare chief needs to pay back his salary, as the Government Accountability Office has ordered."

COMMENTS

• Let's kick this puppy in the butt and see how far it goes shall we? First off, take Scully to court and recoup the money (plus interest)as suggested. But! That's just to get his attention. Next, let's file charges like, oh, I don't know. Let's try criminal intent to defraud the Government for starts. We'll fill in the blanks from there. Put Mr. Scully in front of a judge. Swear him in. Then before he can say anything, explain exactly what perjury is and it's consequences. At this point I'm sure he'll sitting real straight in his chair. Now, first question to Mr. Scully is "exactly who approached you about keeping the information under wraps? Or do you want to fall on your sword all by yourself?" Nuff said. Art Doss Posted September 8, 2004 7:11 PM
• Ha, ha, ha!!! GovExec.com reader Posted September 8, 2004 11:02 AM
• Just another example of the Bush Administration lying to the public and hoping know one will notice. We are getting ripped off by Bush and we need to simply vote him out of office. He spends too much and lies too much. How can good Americans lie for this man any longer? GovExec.com reader Posted September 8, 2004 7:09 AM