Top Medicare Official Jumps Ship

December 8, 2003
The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Tom Scully, is defending his job search activities during the time he worked on negotiations for the final Medicare bill. His quick leap from the top Medicare post to the private sector is raising eyebrows in Washington.

Scully announced his resignation last week and is said to be the object of a hot bidding war among five law firms and investment houses hoping to hire him to advise healthcare companies affected by the measure.

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"I am a lawyer, and I spent a lot of time making sure I followed every ethical guideline," Scully said in a conference call with reporters. He said he had received a waiver from the top ethics officers of the Department of Health and Human Services, allowing him to continue working on the bill while looking for a high-paying job on K Street.

Scully said that the HHS general counsel called him "a model citizen," adding, "I did this by the book."

Several opponents of the Medicare bill said that Scully's conversations with potential employers during the bill's negotiations reinforced perceptions that the Bush administration favors insurers and drug companies.

Scully is not the only high-ranking insider who's rushing to return to the lucrative world of political "consulting."

Senate Finance Committee health policy counsel Colin Roskey started work last week for Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird. Roskey said that he had no negotiations with the firm during the Medicare debate, which ended barely a week ago.

Ron Pollack, the executive director of Families USA, which opposed the bill, said, "This usually happens right near the end of the session. But unfortunately, this occurs on the heels of such incredible special interest provisions in this bill," adding that the congressional ethics policy regarding lobbying "deserves closer scrutiny."

"This is really starting to stink," said Gail Shearer of the Consumers' Union, which also opposed the bill.

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