Government
Grassley targets spending at Iowa QIO
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 24, 2007
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R, Iowa) is pressing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to explain how it is dealing with a Medicare quality improvement organization in Iowa that was involved in making inappropriate federal expenditures with agency approval. CMS is reviewing his request.
The Iowa Foundation for Medical Care, the state's QIO, was found by federal investigators to have incurred more than $200,000 in inappropriate spending over a three-year period, including more than $80,000 spent on electronic equipment for use by employees of CMS and the contractor. The investigation found that the QIO was directed to make the inappropriate purchases by a single agency employee, Grassley said.
"That CMS official needs to be held accountable for unauthorized expenditures, and CMS needs to make sure the problem isn't bigger than this one case and one employee," he said.
For several years, Grassley has been investigating what he views as questionable spending of taxpayer money by the QIOs, which -- among their other duties -- partner with physician practices to improve the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/12/24/gvbf1224.htm.
