’s pick for health and human services secretary,
, failed to pay more than $128,000 in taxes, partly for free use of a car and driver that had been provided to him by a prominent businessman and Democratic fund-raiser, administration officials said Friday.
Mr. Daschle, concluding that he owed the taxes, filed amended returns and paid more than $140,000 in back taxes and interest on Jan. 2, the officials said.
The car and driver were provided Read the rest of this entry »

This week I have decided to discuss what we cold expect from potential replacements for former Senator Daschle. On my blog, www.healthitpolitics.com, I talk about the Governor of Kansas. Here I discuss Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee.
Healthcare is a signature issue for Gov. Bredesen. He focused mostly on Medicaid reform and covering the uninsured. His first attempt at reform of Medicaid, (TennCare) included full enrollment but limits on Read the rest of this entry »

A good percentage of the premiums or catastrophic health insurance amounts is going to health care fraud every year. GAO est of minimum fraud have consistently been in 10% to teens. Comment by Comment by patient – January 27, 2009 at 11:01 pm
This comment leads in a direction mentioned several times here between us: FRAUD. I served on a Federal Grand Jury for 18 months and became intimately involved with details of Medicare/Medicaid Fraud. Most Read the rest of this entry »

’s pick for health and human services secretary,
, failed to pay more than $128,000 in taxes, partly for free use of a car and driver that had been provided to him by a prominent businessman and Democratic fund-raiser, administration officials said Friday.
Mr. Daschle, concluding that he owed the taxes, filed amended returns and paid more than $140,000 in back taxes and interest on Jan. 2, the officials said.
The car and driver were provided Read the rest of this entry »

pledged on Thursday to work with lawmakers of both parties in a grass roots, ideology-free campaign to revamp the nation’s struggling health care system.
“We will be guided by evidence and effectiveness, not by ideology,” Mr. Daschle told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions after saying that he wanted “to work with each of you” on ways to improve health care for all Americans.
“When Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tom Daschle, President Barack Obama’s choice to lead reforms of the costly U.S. healthcare system, said on Monday he was deeply embarrassed about having to pay some $140,000 in back taxes, a lapse that raised questions about his nomination.
Daschle, a former Democratic Senate majority leader, issued an apologetic statement shortly before the Senate Finance Committee, which must approve his nomination as Health Secretary, met Read the rest of this entry »

The old-fashioned Westerns I watched as a kid were simple: good guys vs. bad guys. And if you ever wondered which were which, you just had to look at their hats.
George W. Bush, never managed to grow up past that kind of thinking. There were white hat countries and black hat countries — with us or against us. A professor of ethics wrote a book about him called “The President of Good and Evil.”
Real life, of course, is rarely that simple. Bush Read the rest of this entry »

to contribute to this page. If you’re new to BBC Blogs,
is quick and easy.
1.
,
Justin, just one link as to why Daschle was unique would be useful. Just one illustration of what he achieved towards health reform when he was previously in a position of power (before that rare event, an incumbant being thrown out of office by the electorate).
Haven’t we done this one to death already? We’ll be talking about the middle east in record time!
Read the rest of this entry »

Cue the one-note chorus from Colorado Springs…
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, chaired by Ted Kennedy,
from Health and Human Services Secretary-Nominee Tom Daschle today.
This isn’t a confirmation hearing, but it signals the high priority
that both Congress and the Obama Administration plan to give to serious
health care reform this year.
The prominence of health care on
Washington’s radar even in the midst of Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s choice to spearhead U.S. healthcare reform, Tom Daschle, paid more than $100,000 in back taxes for a three-year period, setting up a potential roadblock to his nomination, documents showed on Friday.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Daschle, a former Senate majority leader, had filed amended tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service and made payments with interest.
A Senate Finance Read the rest of this entry »