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| Dr. Christine Cassel |
Here's what happened.
Despite Kaiser's bogus claims of hard financial times, it turns out the HMO is awash with so much cash that it lubricates its Board of Directors
with $1,400-an-hour salaries!
According to tax returns posted on NUHW's website, Kaiser pays each of its 15 board members more than $200,000 a year for attending only six
board meetings!
Hmm... last time Tasty checked, Kaiser was supposed to be a
nonprofit!
And in the case of one board member, Kaiser’s gold-plated payouts triggered fears that the HMO is using its six-figure generosity
to purchase the loyalty of a top industry insider.
NUHW revealed that the board member -- Dr. Christine Cassel -- also happens to serve as the CEO of the National Quality Forum, a DC-based
organization whose decisions affect Kaiser’s revenues under the Medicare
program.
Furthermore, NUHW revealed that last year, Cassel accepted a
position on the board of directors of Premier,
Inc., one of the largest group-purchasing organizations in the U.S.
healthcare industry. For this third gig, Cassel took home $235,000 in cash and
stock.
That's in addition to her salary at her ‘day job,’ where NQF pays her $561,000 a year!
After NUHW gave the info to ProPublica, the award-winning group of investigative journalists penned
an article about Cassel’s conflicts of interest. Top
ethics experts who are cited in ProPublica's article said her payouts are "egregious" and called on her to
resign. A U.S. senator weighed
in, instructing Cassel to cough up internal documents. NUHW called for Cassel's resignation.
Soon thereafter, Cassel quit
her positions at both Kaiser and Premier, Inc., making headlines across the nation.
It's similar to an earlier episode, when NUHW ousted a fatcat CEO for pocketing eight pension plans while trying to eliminate workers' only pension. Once again, NUHW has scored an important victory by exposing the corruption among the well-heeled executives atop the U.S. healthcare industry.
