The real wonder of SB #2407's (removes exemptions for Open Meetings Act for public hospitals) saga is not that it was castrated in the House Public Health Committee last week but that the bill even passed the Senate in the first place. The Sun-Herald turned its bulldogs loose on the Mississippi Hospital Association and reported MHA dropped over a quarter of a million dollars on legislators:
The Mississippi Hospital Association, through its Political Action Committee, was able to ante up more than a quarter-million dollars in the last Mississippi legislative election. That vote flipped the House from the Democrats to the Republicans and gave rise to the House committee that last week gutted a bill aimed at allowing more scrutiny of public hospitals.
Sixty-three House members received anywhere from $250 to $7,500 in that election cycle, according to the MHA PAC annual report filed with the Secretary of State's Office in early 2012. The total could be higher, though, because Mississippi's lax campaign-finance reporting laws make it difficult to track all spending. The Center for Public Integrity gave the state a D grade on its campaign-finance disclosure system when it rated all the states recently.
Eleven members of the Public Health and Human Services Committee, which last week voted to limit the public hospital bill to just the Singing River Health System in Jackson County, between them received $22,500 from the PAC. MHA
opposes the bill, saying hospitals need exemptions from the Open Meetings Act "because public hospitals work much differently from other public entities in the state as they operate in a competitive business environment," MHA President and CEO Tim Moore said. "Hospitals are already providing financial information that is available to the public, and the costs to hire attorneys and personnel to handle the notices, website updates, emergency procedures, and liability concerns would be devastating financially."..... Rest of the article. There is more, much more information in the story.
As I wrote last week:
Make no mistake. Mr. Moore is lying through his teeth. What his associations wants is the right to have it both ways. He wants to be able to take your money for your hospitals but tell you to shut the hell up when it comes to knowing what they do with your money. The Senate bill protects patients rights and financial information that should remain confidential. However, these legitimate and serious compromises are not enough for our pampered prince over on Woodgreen Drive. Mr. Moore spits in the faces of the taxpayers who OWN these hospitals and then tries to make like he is doing a favor. It gives a new meaning to the term "golden shower".
11 comments:
Taxpayer money supports these hospitals. Keeping their finances secret is an abomination.
This is a drop in the bucket compared to what MHA spent to influence the last election cycle. They spent a couple million in soft dollars for campaign strategists, consultants, media, direct mail, etc via their Black Ops director Steve Dickson. However, you can't find this on their campaign finance reports...
We should all be upset! If there is nothing to hide they would want transparency! This has got to stop ! Singing River is enough for everyone to learn from! These innocent people trusted the system! It could You next! Accountability!!
Don't overlook the role that "our" doctors are playing in this game. They love it that the focus is on MHA and not them. Have you compared your doctor's lifestyle to yours lately?
Didn't MHA back the Democrats?
@9:50, have you compared your doctor's education to yours lately?
Dear Dr. 7.33 a.m: In fact, I have made the comparison. I have the same number of years of education as a precious doctor. However, as you prove with your post, apparently doctors take a number of courses in arrogance which teaches that they are smarter than everyone else in every way and thus should be paid more than everyone else.
MHA was wedded to Billy McCoy and worked hard to keep him in place as the speaker.
Funded the redistricting fight for the Democrats.
MHA always has the ear of the Speaker regardless of party because they represent the hospitals and hospitals make this state run; they employ more than any other employer in the state and all speakers want to stay friends with the hospitas. It's not political just fact. Speaker Gunn has been a true friend to our state hospitals. More than Tater.
Is there any industry in Mississippi that harvests more federal dollars than healthcare?
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