Medical Research News

There are no records to display that match the provided criteria.

Sen. Moran: Reports on Accountability, Transparency of Obamacare Exchange Subsidies to be Released Tomorrow

"Once again, we are provided further evidence that Obamacare is not working. In fact, the Administration is relying on nothing more than the honor system to run a billion dollar program."

Jun 30 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) learned that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Inspector General (IG) will release the findings of two reports tomorrow, Tuesday July 1, 2014, on Obamacare verification systems. The first report reviews the effectiveness of the procedures and safeguards for preventing fraudulent or inaccurate information by applicants enrolling in health plans through the Obamacare insurance Exchanges. This report finds that the Obamacare system lacks internal controls to verify information provided by individuals enrolling through Obamacare. The second report details the inconsistencies that arose as part of the haphazard enrollment process. The IG finds that most exchanges were unable to resolve the majority of inconsistencies, most often relating to income and citizenship. In particular, the federal exchange was unable to resolve 2.6 million out of 2.9 million inconsistencies as of February 2014.  

“The Administration has unilaterally changed Obamacare to bend every rule it can – delayed regulations, changed the enrollment period, and given select individual and employer exemptions – to try and make the law work,” Sen. Moran said. “Once again, we are provided further evidence that Obamacare is not working. In fact, the Administration is relying on nothing more than the honor system to run a billion dollar program. Without adequate safeguards or the ability to reconcile inconsistencies in income and citizenship, the Administration is wasting millions in American taxpayers’ dollars to provide subsidies to individuals who do not actually qualify.”

                                                

Without a process in place to verify an enrollee’s income or citizenship, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the government agency responsible for implementing Obamacare, will continue to process applications based on nothing more than the honor system. As a result, the Administration will hand out inaccurate subsidies while relying on an unproven, incomplete back-end system to recoup incorrect subsidies during the tax filing process. This disorganization will result in massive uncertainty with the Administration having to dedicate more taxpayer dollars to reclaim the incorrect subsidies from enrollees who may not have the money to pay them back. In addition, many Americans who based their insurance choice off inaccurate subsidy information may now see their premiums increase as their subsidy is reduced by the Administration.

In May, Senator Moran demanded a response from the Department of Health and Human Services about a press report stating the federal government may be paying incorrect Obamacare subsidies to more than 1 million individuals.  The Department has yet to respond to the Senator’s letter.

 # # #

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (Kan.) today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Obama administration’s attempt to restrict Americans’ religious freedom in the case of Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius:

“Since our nation’s earliest days, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently affirmed our First Amendment right to exercise our religious beliefs freely,” Sen. Moran said. “Today’s Supreme Court decision rightly rejects the federal government’s intrusion into an individual’s religious liberty. This ruling protects religious practice beyond places of worship without harm to others. I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision.”

Sen. Moran was one of 15 Senators to co-sign an amicus brief in the case challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate. The Supreme Court’s decision applies to family-owned, closely-held corporations. 

###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), along with Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and nine of their Senate colleagues have demanded answers from President Obama regarding the release of five high-value prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. In a letter, the senators also expressed concerns over the legality of the exchange, saying it violated provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law mandates a 30-day congressional notification requirement for detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay to foreign countries.

The full text of the letter is below:

June 19, 2014

President Barack Obama        
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

We write to express our strong concern with your decision to release five high value prisoners from Guantanamo Bay– defying both Section 1035 of the Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the recommendations of at least one panel of experts established by your own executive order.

On January 27, 2009, you issued Executive Order 13492, which described a process for a “prompt and thorough review of the factual and legal bases for the continued detention of all individuals currently held at Guantanamo.” This executive order established the Guantanamo Review Task Force, an inter-agency panel chaired by the Attorney General. Members of the task force included the Secretaries of Defense, State, and Homeland Security; Director of National Intelligence; and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The final disposition of the review was reported on January 2010 and recommended that 48 detainees, including the five individuals recently released in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, warranted continued detention under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. No publicly available decisions of subsequent review boards, including the Periodic Review Board established by your Executive Order 13567, indicate that the assessment of these five individuals haschanged.  The Wall Street Journal reported on June 10, 2014 that the intelligence community believes at least four of the five detainees would or were likely to rejoin the fight in Afghanistan. It is deeply concerning that in releasing these individuals, you overrode the recommendations of at least one panel of experts that you called on to guide national security decision-making.

On December 19, 2013, the Senate passed the FY14 NDAA and you signed it into law seven days later. As you know, this legislation included a 30-day congressional notification requirement for detainees transferred from Guantanamo Bay to foreign countries. This law was not followed ahead of the transfer of Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Abdul Haq Wasiq, and Mohammad Nabi Omari.

In your decision to release these individuals, we are further concerned about the increasing recidivism rate among Guantanamo detainees. According to the Director of National Intelligence, an additional four former Guantanamo detainees were confirmed of rejoining the fight between July 2013 and January 2014, raising the combined suspected and confirmed recidivism rate to 29%. On June 16, 2014, Spanish authorities detained Lahcen Ikassriena, former Guantanamo detainee, who is believed to have led a recruitment cell for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, further raising concern about the actions of former detainees.

Contradictory to your own advisory committee, and without observance of Public Law No. 113-66, five senior Taliban leaders were released and many will likely return to the battlefield.  None of the remaining 149 detainees should be released without a full investigation of the process by which the five detainees were released outside of the legal process.

Sincerely,

###

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) issued the following statement today upon learning of the death of former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, husband of former Kansas Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker. 

“My heart goes out to the entire Baker family during this difficult time,” Sen. Moran said. “Senator Baker was a true statesman who dedicated his extraordinary life to serving our country. From the South Pacific in World War II and the Watergate trial, to his leadership of the U.S. Senate and the Reagan White House, Senator Baker was an iconic political figure and remarkable American. I am honored to have met him. I wish to send my deepest sympathies to Howard’s wife, former Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum. I ask all Kansans to join me in keeping Senator Baker’s family and friends in our thoughts and prayers during the days ahead.”

# # #

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) released the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling this week on Utility Air Regulatory Group v. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding a set of EPA greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations:

“This Supreme Court Ruling underscores the EPA’s efforts to expand its reach in the lives of Americans,” Sen. Moran said. “While I was pleased to see the Supreme Court ruled in favor of economic growth and job creation and against the overregulation of the EPA, more must be done to prevent the EPA from implementing any more job-killing regulations until the economic impact of its current regulations are fully known.  If home and business owners in Kansas and across our country are to be optimistic about the future of the American economy, reining in regulatory overreach must be a priority of Congress.”

“While I would have liked to see the U.S. Supreme Court go further in its ruling this week to reign in some of the EPA’s overreach and continued assault on affordable, reliable energy, I believe this is a step in the right direction,” Sen. Roberts said. “Moving forward, I will continue fighting on behalf of all Kansans working to make ends meet in the face of rising energy costs driven by this Administration’s continued regulatory overreach.”

On Dec. 16, 2013, Sens. Moran and Roberts, along with three of their Senate colleagues, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA. In the amicus brief, the Senators asks that the Supreme Court remand the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decisions that upheld the EPA’s authority to require permits for GHG under the Clean Air Act. 

###

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned President Obama’s unconstitutional “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January 2012. Sen. Moran and 44 of his Senate colleagues filed an amicus brief in the case and counsel for the Senators participated in oral argument before the Supreme Court.

"The Obama Administration has a bad habit of sidestepping Congress and ignoring the Constitution when they find it politically convenient," Sen. Moran said. "This decision by the Supreme Court puts both the U.S. Constitution and best interests of Americans first."

The legal controversy with the appointments was tied to whether brief Senate breaks called pro-forma sessions, which Congress states are not formal recesses, are in fact recesses. The federal court of appeals ruled that the only congressional break that counts as recess is the one that occurs between formal, year-long sessions of Congress. Even then, the president may only fill vacancies that come open while the Senate is in recess.

This Supreme Court ruling against President Obama nullifies all decisions by these Board members -- Democrats Sharon Block, Terrence Flynn and Richard Griffin – since January 2012.

In May 2013, Sen. Moran joined 44 Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in a challenge (Noel Canning v. NLRB) to the constitutionality of President Obama’s recess appointments in January 2012.

###

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, believes that an outside review of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) email disappearance is necessary following his questioning of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew during today’s Banking Committee hearing. The Department of the Treasury oversees the IRS.

“While Secretary Lew claims the IRS has done an ‘extraordinary’ job responding to the issue of the missing emails, it would be difficult to find anyone outside of the Treasury who would agree,” Sen. Moran said. “The American people did not accept any of the excuses surrounding the missing 18.5 minutes of the Watergate tapes, nor should they be asked to accept the excuses for the loss of tens of thousands of IRS emails.

“I remain unconvinced by the excuses offered by IRS and Treasury leadership. If the Treasury truly lacks the technical expertise to fully and accurately assess this incident, we need to bring in an outside examiner who can.”

Highlights from Sen. Moran’s exchange with Sec. Lew can be found below, along with a link to download the video clip.

 

Sen. Moran:  (0:53) “I find it difficult to give credibility to the belief that these emails have disappeared by mistake, in an error, something uncontrollable…”

 

Sec. Lew: (2:24) “I share the frustration that a broken hard drive has led to a gap in terms of what is available, but I do want to point out that what the IRS has done is extraordinary… (2:53) and I have no reason to believe that I have anything to add to what the Commissioner has said.”

 

Sen. Moran: (2:58) “Have you analyzed this independent of what the Commissioner has said?”

 

Sec. Lew: (3:01) “We’ve been in contact obviously, and understand what they’ve done, but the IRS is managing this.”

 

Sen. Moran: (3:11) “I assume you understand the nature of the IRS and what is expects of the American people. What a double standard this is that the IRS can’t find records… You also have an ongoing lawsuit in which, by the Code of Civil Procedure, you are required to keep the emails. It seems to me there are a series of problems the IRS faces as a result of the loss of this hard drive. It also speaks in a broader sense to the relationship between the Treasury Department and Congress in trying to establish some level of credibility as we have conversations about what the truth is… This is one more example of what I find to be very difficult in dealing with the Department in getting answers...”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, along with U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) announced that the Fiscal Year 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill was approved with bipartisan support by the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations. The bill includes $300 million for construction of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), an amount equal to the funding requested in the President’s FY2015 Budget and builds on the $404 million appropriated for the construction of NBAF in FY2014. This funding is a critical step forward to finish construction of the lab in Manhattan, Kan.

“As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am committed to making certain NBAF remains a top priority,” Sen. Moran said. “This $300 million investment solidifies Congressional support for the construction of a modern, world-class facility in Manhattan, which will protect Americans against biological threats. Kansas will become a research epicenter, and NBAF will ultimately create jobs for Kansans in the fields of engineering, science and technology. The talented young men and women who grow up here will have more opportunities to work and live in Kansas.”

“The nation needs NBAF. With this final $300 investment, our plant and animal health will be better protected and the critical research will be done in Manhattan, Kansas,” Sen. Roberts said. “I look forward to the economic opportunities this will create for Kansans now and into the future as public and private research expands to keep our best and brightest here at home.” 

NBAF, a state-of-the-art biosecurity lab, is to be built adjacent to Kansas State University. A January 2012 economic impact report found the NBAF will employ approximately 326 permanent employees and support some 757 construction jobs. The state of Kansas showed its commitment to this project by contributing $202 million. The facility is expected to have a $3.5 billion economic impact on Kansas in the first 20 years alone. 

In addition to creating an economic boom for Kansas, NBAF will protect our national economy by researching foreign animal disease threats, which are very real with devastating impacts. The cost of an outbreak far outweighs the NBAF construction cost, not only in the loss of human life but also its damage to the animal and agricultural industry.

The main laboratory will boast safety and security features recommended by the National Academies of Sciences. It will include specialized air and water decontamination systems, new technologies for handling solid waste onsite, and structural components to strengthen the laboratory against hazardous weather conditions. A funding commitment was also made to provide infrastructure repairs at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center to guarantee a smooth transition of research from Plum Island, N.Y., to Manhattan, Kan.

The committee approved bill now awaits passage by the full U.S. Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives has also passed their Fiscal Year 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill with funding for NBAF out of committee, but it also awaits passage on the floor. 

###

Sen. Moran Repeats Call for Release of VA Office of Medical Inspector Reports

"The release of OMI reports will allow Americans, the press, Congress and veterans to see what the VA knew, when they knew it and what they did about it."

Jun 23 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, today repeated his call for the release of reports by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of the Medical Inspector (OMI) on their investigations into wrongdoing at VA facilities. The release of a letter from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) detailing how VA officials have consistently glossed over problems pointed out by whistle-blowers illustrates the importance of making certain the findings of all OMI investigations see the light of day.

“The Administration continues to say that action will be taken if ‘allegations prove to be true,’ but it is difficult to have faith in their word when we know the VA has turned a blind eye to wrongdoing for so long,” Sen. Moran said. “The fact is, many of the same VA facilities and cases receiving attention today have already been investigated and the claims have been substantiated in years past – yet we do not know what action has been taken because the OMI reports are not made public. The release of past and future OMI reports will allow Americans, the press, Congress and veterans to see what the VA knew, when they knew it and what they did about it.”  

Currently, OMI reports are not made public or released to Congress. Because OMI reports are not available for review, it is impossible to know whether the VA has taken any action to implement the OMI’s recommendations for improvement in each case of wrongdoing.

“The VA, and particularly the VA’s Office of the Medical Inspector, has consistently used a ‘harmless error’ defense, where the department acknowledges problems but claims patient care is unaffected,” Carolyn Lerner, who leads the OSC, wrote in a letter to President Obama on Monday. “This approach has prevented the VA from acknowledging the severity of systemic problems and from taking the necessary steps to provide quality care to veterans.”

On May 22, 2014, the full Senate Committee on Appropriations passed an amendment authored by Sen. Moran during mark-up of the fiscal year 2015 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill requiring the VA to submit routine Reports to Congress on the findings and recommendations stemming from any OMI report. The initial Report to Congress will cover Medical Inspector reports over the last four years detailing the findings, recommendations and legal or administrative actions resulting from the investigation. Sen. Moran’s amendment would require the VA to detail any legal or administrative action taken against employees identified in these investigations, who should not be serving veterans and whether such action was followed through.

In addition to passage by the Appropriations Committee, the amendment was also introduced as a stand-alone bill in the full Senate (S. 2401) by Sen. Moran and U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and has 7 bipartisan cosponsors.

According to OMI, their unreleased Blue Cover Reports contain conclusions and recommendations for improvement, based on findings from a case investigation or national assessment. The OMI’s recommendations may be for an individual facility, a Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) or all of VHA. The Under Secretary for Health approves all OMI final reports, and in response to a final report, VA facilities, VISNs and VHA program offices – as appropriate – prepare action plans to address report recommendations. 

VHA policy requires that OMI provide copies of all final reports and their recommended action plans to the VA Secretary and nine other offices within the VA, including: Under Secretary for Health; Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health; Deputy Under Secretary of Health for Operations and Management; Office of Quality and Safety; Office of Performance Management; Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services; Freedom of Information Act Officer; VA Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs; Office of Healthcare Inspections, VA Office of the Inspector General; and any other offices or facilities responsible for policy related to the report or for carrying out any part of the action plan. 

It is unclear what criteria the VA uses to select either the OMI or the OIG with conducting investigations into VA wrongdoing.

Sen. Moran has been a member of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees for 18 years, chaired the Health Subcommittee in the House for two years, and has worked with nine VA Secretaries. 

# # #

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, June 20, 2014, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) pressed U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for answers on Department of Justice protocol for plea bargains and witness protection oversight of violent criminals.

“Frazier Glenn Miller’s criminal history and relationship with the Department of Justice demonstrate the need to review federal anti-recidivism efforts and plea bargain policies related to violent criminals,” Sen. Moran said. “While a policy review and increased oversight cannot ease the deep pain and loss felt in Johnson County, it may result in an improved judicial system that could prevent violence from striking another community.”

Sen. Moran’s letter to Attorney General Holder examines the Department of Justice’s handling of Miller prior to his alleged 2014 murders in Johnson County, Kansas. Miller has an extensive criminal history and was previously deemed by the Department of Justice as a serious threat to society with a “callous disregard” for court orders. Despite this assessment, he received a plea bargain and significantly reduced prison sentence, a 115-year maximum reduced to a five-year minimum, in exchange for offering to cooperate with the federal government in the prosecution of related criminal cases. After serving just three years in prison, it appears Miller benefited from federally funded witness protection and continued to publicly discuss killing in the name of white-supremacy and anti-Semitism.

Click here to view a copy the letter to the Attorney General, or find the full text below:

United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

June 20, 2014

The Honorable Eric Holder
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

On April 13, 2014, three Americans were killed by gunfire in Johnson County, Kansas, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and Village Shalom, a Jewish retirement community. Shortly after, you traveled to Kansas and delivered thoughtful remarks at a memorial service where you witnessed the deep pain and sorrow inflicted by hate-fueled violence.

The alleged killer, Frazier Glenn Miller, has since been charged with capital murder in the deaths of Reat Underwood and William Corporon, first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Terri LaManno, attempted first-degree murder of three men, aggravated assault against a woman, and discharging a firearm in an occupied building.

After Miller’s arrest, information surfaced about his significant criminal history, a sentence-reducing arrangement with the Department of Justice, and possible participation in the federal Witness Security Program.

In 1986, Miller was convicted on a federal contempt of court charge with a resulting sentence of one year in prison, with six months suspended. However, Miller disappeared while out on bond awaiting an appeal. In 1987, Miller was caught with explosives, firearms and ammunition.

Miller was indicted for conspiring to acquire stolen military weapons and for planning robberies and an assassination. Had the prosecution pursued all charges against him, Miller could have faced a 115-year prison sentence. 

In a 1987 sentencing memorandum, the Department of Justice made clear the threat to society posed by Miller, “The offenses committed by the defendant, both those to which he has pled and those which were not charged by the government, were extremely serious and could have resulted in the loss of innocent life and the destruction of property. The federal government has a strong and legitimate interest in deterring any further lawless behavior by the defendant…” The document notes Miller’s “callous disregard” for court orders and describes him as someone “who can ‘inspire’ his followers to violence.”

The Department of Justice recommended that Miller receive a reduced five-year prison sentence after arranging a plea bargain that secured guilty pleas on some charges and Miller’s cooperation with the Department of Justice in federal investigation and prosecution of other white supremacists.

After serving three years of this prison sentence, it appears Miller was enrolled in the Witness Security Program, administered by the Marshals Service under the Department of Justice. Miller has since remained active in white supremacist circles and reportedly made more than 10,000 posts on Vanguard News Network, a white supremacist and anti-Semitic website, where his writings reference “exterminating” Jews and the need to “kill all” Jewish people.

Regretfully, we now know that the recommended five-year sentence failed to achieve the Justice Department’s goal of “deterring any further lawless behavior by the defendant.” I am concerned that Miller’s commitment to violence and self-proclaimed unshakable white supremacist beliefs were not appropriately considered by the Department of Justice during initial plea bargain considerations and in the years following his time in federal prison.

Americans can only wonder if Frazier Glenn Miller’s alleged 2014 crimes might have been prevented if he had been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in 1987 or was more carefully monitored once released from prison. While Miller is now incarcerated and the lives lost on April 13 are irreplaceable, a rigorous assessment of relevant Department of Justice policies and protocols may spare others from the agony and grief of violence.

Accordingly, I request that the Department of Justice please provide answers to the following questions:

1.      Which factors are considered before offering a reduced sentence to defendants accused of violent crime or conspiring to commit an act of violence?

2.      Which qualities are considered when identifying one or more co-conspirators for plea bargain negotiations? Have these changed since 1987?

3.      The U.S. Marshals Service claims that less than 17 percent of protected witnesses with criminal histories are arrested and charged with crimes after joining the Witness Security Program. Has the Department of Justice identified patterns in cases of recidivism?

4.      What plea bargain risk-reduction or oversight mechanisms are in place at the Department of Justice? Have these policies changed since the 1980s?

5.      What Department of Justice policies are currently in place to reduce recidivism among violent criminals?

6.      What level of scrutiny does the Department of Justice impose on Witness Security Program participants?

7.      What level of scrutiny does the Department of Justice impose on Witness Security Program participants who leave the program?

8.      Was Miller’s online activity monitored by the Department of Justice at any point prior to April 13, 2014?

I appreciated your personal attention to this issue in April and thank you for your Department’s consideration on this matter. I look forward to your response by July 31, 2014.

Sincerely,


_______________________
Jerry Moran
United States Senator