Who is the Secret "Oxygen Payments" Lawmaker?

For the second time in just a handful of days, the Wall Street Journal has mentioned a specific Washington event - recalled by White House budget chief Peter Orszag - that detailed a certain lawmaker's reaction to his assertion that health care costs must be kept under control. Members of Congress play a special role insofar as health care costs are concerned, as they control Medicare's bidding processes (or lack thereof), as well as the level at which Medicare will reimburse doctors for certain procedures. Anyways, Mr. Orszag reportedly told Laura Meckler of the WSJ that, during a recent meeting with lawmakers, his message of "cost savings" was interrupted by a representative who stated that her highest priority was "winning higher payments for oxygen suppliers". It appears as if Mr. Orszag, intent on avoiding the uproar that would result from his stating the actual identity of "oxygen supplier" lawmaker, has chosen to take a high road of sorts - and let somebody else figure out who this mystery lawmaker really is.

Thanks to the internet, we believe that we have developed a list of suspects, based on the small number of facts afforded us. The first bit of evidence to turn up is that the American Association for Homecare - an association that "advocates" (lobbies) on behalf of the homecare community (to Congress) - has been an ardent supporter of H.R.1077, the Medicare Home Oxygen Therapy Act of 2009 the Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative Act of 2009. The AAH even provides you with talking points, conveniently located on their website (and below) The AAHomecare's main thrust seems to be preventing the process of competitive bidding in the Medicare arena. As you can see, the talking points are very Obama-like; a.k.a assertions of savings are made without providing any supporting evidence.

Now, we assume that any lawmaker bold enough to introduce her oxygen-tank-payment concerns into a Cost Savings Meeting would be very likely to have sponsored or co-sponsored H.R.1077. A little research shows that this bill was sponsored and introduced by Rep.Mike Ross (D-AK), and co-sponsored by 23 other members of Congress. But wait; Mr. Orszag's account of the mystery reimburser identifies the Congressperson as a female, of which there are only a handful who have signed onto this bill. We have taken the liberty of listing them below:

• Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
• Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA)
• Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)

So there you have it; by the power of deduction, we have determined that this infamous, mysterious Congressional grabber of pork is, in all likelihood, one of the Congress persons listed above. We will continue, in unrelenting fashion, to find out who this individual is. Tips welcome of course.

edit @ 2:30pm*Note: As was pointed out by a reader below, HR 3220 is a bill that would seem to be more directly applicable to the issue of the actual "oxygen". The problem is that HR 3220 is light on co-sponsors (only 1); therefore offering zero worthwhile "evidence". Our opinion diverges from the lobbyist commented below when he/she states that HR 1077 and HR 3220 are about completely different issues. It seems obvious to us though that providing Medicare coverage of respiratory therapists(HR 1077) is Quite related to reforming the reimbursement for home oxygen therapy services(HR 3220). For all practical purposes, we fail to see how there is actually any difference between the two, aside from the fact that HR 1077 appears to be the more inclusive of the two. Thank you for the comment though; we did get a bit sloppy on the reporting of this. Next up: an investigation into Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)

AAHomecare Competitive Bidding Talking Points 4.30 Sphere: Related Content

Taxpayers Buy Rep. William Jefferson a New Laptop

Not to be outdone by their British counterparts, it appears that members of the US Congress have been engaging in their own little brand of "perk expensing". According to documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the last weeks of 2008 saw a parabolic spike in the dollar amount of Congressional expense reimbursement statements. Apparently, each member of Congress is given an exorbitantly high expense budget each year so that they will not have to face undue financial burdens, and thus can focus on the task of making this country's laws. The catch is, unused yet budgeted expense money can not be rolled over to the next calendar year, incentivizing members of Congress to "spend it or lose it".That the practice is legal does not mean it is acceptable. We have grown tired of members of Congress standing at the lectern and micro-lambasting every aspect of American business.(Not that it doesn't deserve to be micro-lambasted, the previous point was delivered in the spirit of "don't throw glass stones in a glass house")

Most egregious of all, in our opinion, were the actions of former Rep.William Jefferson (D-LA). According to official documents, the taxpayer has purchased Mr. Jefferson a $2793 Toshiba Toughbook laptop. Now, we are all for technological literacy within Congress( we don't think much exists currently), but seriously, this is the same man who was caught with $90,000 of cash in his freezer. How in the world can a member of Congress be caught with that kind of money in his freezer(of all places), and still retain the audacity to charge the taxpayer for an overpriced "Toughbook" that isn't even designed for old men in Congress?

The consensus of historians as to the reason for the fall of the Roman Empire, is that Rome was not overwhelmed by external enemies, but rather that it crumbled from within. Sphere: Related Content