Today’s Tennessean has a story about Senator Frist’s record on voting for legislation that would benefit HCA. The entire article is worth reading but it isn’t until far down in the story that the more interesting tidbits surface.
It appears that the Senate Ethics Commitee, in 1997 and 1999, addressed Frist’s apparent conflict of interest but concluded that his “financial interest in HCA didn’t present a conflict of interest when it came to voting on health-care issues.” Interesting that this would even be an issue if we are to take Frist at his word that his financial interests in HCA were in a blind trust. In 2003, Frist told cable news channel CNBC “As far as I know, I own no HCA stock.”
Oh but wait. We now know that “records filed with the Senate show he received a number of letters over the years informing him about shares in the company held in his blind trusts.” I guess these letters just gathered in a drawer, unopened and unread. Ahem.
And there’s more to the recently passed Medicare prescription drug act, which the Senator voted for, than helping seniors afford their much needed medications. According to the story, “The legislation gave hospitals an extra $25 billion in Medicare and Medicaid payments over 10 years.” About 35% of HCA’s revenue last year was made up of Medicare and Medicaid payments. In addition, the act extended a moratorim by 18-months “on new physician-owned specialty hospitals that would compete directly with full-service community hospitals such as those operated by HCA.”
And here’s the kicker: “HCA, like other hospital companies, oppose the physician-owned facilities on grounds they “cherry pick” patients with the best insurance, leaving traditional hospitals with an unfair share of uninsured and underinsured patients.” So much for free-enterprise.
