Health Care

Private Health Care Provider Settles Over Massive Fraud Scheme

David Stern | September 15, 2011, 4:00PM

Maxim Healthcare Services agreed to a wide-ranging Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with federal and state authorities on charges that the company participated in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the Department of Justice announced this week. The criminal complaint against Maxim details how the company allegedly defrauded Medicaid and Veterans Affairs programs through false billings from 2003 to 2009.

As a private health care service provider, Maxim primarily provides home health care services and medical staffing to hospitals and assisted living facilities. As part of the DPA, Maxim signed a Statement of Facts agreeing with the allegations made in the complaint - the text of which suggests the extent of the company's fraud may have affected the quality of care it provided.

Florida

Judge Blocks Florida Law That Restricts Doctors From Asking Patients About Guns

David Taintor | September 15, 2011, 6:10AM

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Florida law that restricts doctors -- namely pediatricians -- from asking their patients about guns.

"At issue in this litigation is a law directed at maintaining patients' privacy rights regarding firearm ownership within the context of the doctor-patient relationship," the ruling reads. "In effect, however, the law curtails practitioners' ability to inquire about whether patients own firearms and burdens their ability to deliver a firearm safety message to patients, under certain circumstances."

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Topics: Florida, Gun Control, Gun Rights, Guns, Health Care

Florida

Florida Bill Would Bar Doctors From Asking Patients About Guns

David Taintor | May 9, 2011, 2:44PM

As NPR reports, a Florida bill would bar doctors -- in particular pediatricians -- from asking their patients if they own guns. Gov. Rick Scott (R) is expected to sign the bill this week, which would make Florida the first state with such a law.

Scott's office would not release a timeline on when the governor plans to sign the bill. But Scott's press secretary, Lane Wright, told TPM "it's likely he will support it."

Arizona

Arizona Bill Would Force Hospitals To Check Patients' Immigration Status

Eric Lach | February 16, 2011, 11:35AM

Republican lawmakers in Arizona have proposed a bill that would serve as a kind of follow-up to the controversial immigration law Gov. Jan Brewer (R) signed into law last year. The bill would require hospitals to check the immigration status of each patient.

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Topics: Arizona, Health Care, Immigration

Nullification

Health Care Nullification Bill Moving Through Idaho Legislature

Eric Kleefeld | February 4, 2011, 3:36PM

Another battle over attempts by Republican state legislators to nullify the federal health care reform law is bubbling up in deep-red Idaho, where legislation was introduced last week.

As the Spokane Spokesman-Review (located just on the other side of the Washington state border) reports, legislators in a key Idaho state House committee voted to advance the bill on a party-line vote, 15 Republicans for four Democrats. However, some GOP legislators said at the same time that they had reservations about the bill, and were voting for the bill in committee in order to allow for further debate.

The bill's main sponsor, state Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) said: "The question becomes, is the Legislature going to become a rubber stamp of everything that the government decides to do, or is the Legislature going to be able to interpose between onerous laws that the federal government decides to implement and its citizens? That's the question before us."

However, this move is also being strongly opposed by the few Democrats in Idaho's state legislature -- and the office of the state attorney general, a Republican.

Gabby Giffords

FLASHBACK: Gabby Giffords Faced Threats Over Heath Care Vote

Ryan J. Reilly | January 8, 2011, 6:24PM

Picture of vandalized congressional office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)

Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) was facing threats long before she was shot in the head today at a supermarket in Arizona.

Though it's not yet clear what motivated the attack on Giffords -- though suspect Jared Loughner has left a long internet trail -- the attack came after numerous threats against Giffords over the past couple of years.

Giffords's father Spencer Gifford, 75, told the New York Post that her enemies were "the whole Tea Party."

But as Zachary Roth also outlined, Giffords has consistently faced threats, mostly for her view on health care reform.

Republicans

House GOP Crushes Bill That Would Protect Against Child Marriage

Rachel Slajda | December 20, 2010, 8:55AM

Eric Cantor (R-VA) and John Boehner (R-OH)

On Thursday night, hours before passing the tax cut compromise, House Republicans thwarted a bill that aimed to protect girls around the world from being coerced into child marriage. They opposed it because, they claimed, it might fund abortions.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), was blindsided. After the Child Marriage Protection Act passed the Senate with zero objection on Dec. 1 -- a rare feat these days -- it didn't seem like there was much to worry about.

But just before the vote began, Republican leadership blasted out a "whip alert" to GOP staffers with a message: Vote no. The alert claimed the bill cost too much and that a competing bill, introduced just the day before, would be better.

Henry E. Hudson

Health Care Judge's Interest In Anti-Health Care PR Shop Raises Questions

Ryan J. Reilly | December 13, 2010, 5:02PM

Federal judge Henry Hudson at a court in Richmond, Va., 2010.

Federal judge Henry E. Hudson's ownership of a stake worth between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform -- the very law against which he ruled today -- raises some ethics questions for some of the nation's top judicial ethics experts. It isn't that Hudson's decision would have necessarily been influenced by his ownership in the company, given his established track record as a judicial conservative. But his ownership stake does create, at the very least, a perception problem for Hudson that could affect the case.

Ken Cuccinelli

Ken Cuccinelli: Gov't Could Force You To Buy Gym Membership

Ryan J. Reilly | November 19, 2010, 12:46PM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the rising conservative star who sued the federal government over health care reform, told audience members at the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention yesterday that if the government is allowed force everyone to buy health care, forced gym memberships could be next.

"It is not about health insurance, it is about liberty," Cuccinelli said. He said that if the government could force citizens to buy health care, a gym membership or even the forced purchase of a car could be next, since jobs are needed in Detroit.

Health Care Reform

Nevada Lawyer Says Health Care Reform Violates His Freedom Of Religion

Ryan J. Reilly | September 8, 2010, 9:41AM

Joel Hansen -- the Nevada conservative using some unique arguments in his suit challenging the new health care law -- told TPMMuckraker that his argument that health care reform imposed a form of slavery on the nation might not be his strongest argument, but it was a valid one.

"I think it is involuntary servitude, if they force you to buy a product," Hansen said. But, he noted, "It's not the same thing as the African-American slaves were under."

Joel Hansen

Nevada Man Sues Over Health Care, Calls 'Socialistic' Law 'Involuntary Servitude'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 6, 2010, 9:08AM

In what he dubbed the crowning achievement of his life's work, Nevada Independent American Party attorney general candidate Joel Hansen filed last week what he said is the most comprehensive lawsuit against the health care law signed by President Barack Obama earlier this year.

Unlike separate suits filed by Virginia and a joint suit by several states that Hansen contends are too focused on the 10th Amendment, Hansen's suit alleges the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act violates a plethora of amendments: the First, the Third through Fifth, the Ninth, 10th and 13th.

Ken Cuccinelli

Cuccinelli: Health Care Is 'Secondary' Issue In My Health Care Lawsuit

Zachary Roth | May 28, 2010, 1:38PM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

Presenting his lawsuit against health-care reform in apocalyptic and grandiose terms, Ken Cuccinelli has said that health-care itself is a "secondary" issue in the legal challenge. The real goal, the Virginia Attorney General acknowledges, is to limit federal power. "If we lose, it's very much the end of federalism as we've known it for over 220 years," he said.

Cuccinelli's comments came in response to the Justice Department's motion, filed earlier this week, to dismiss his lawsuit.

Common Sense Issues

Push Poll Group Returns: Says Senator Supports 'Health Care For Homosexuals'

Zachary Roth | April 1, 2010, 10:13AM

Republican senate candidate Mike Lee of Utah

They're baaaaaack!

Long-time readers may remember Common Sense Issues, a group that gained brief notoriety during the 2008 GOP presidential primary for launching a massive barrage of push poll calls in support of Mike Huckabee. One typical call claimed that John McCain supported "experiments on unborn babies."

Stephen Green

Pajamas Media Editor: Let's Bring Back Tar And Feathering -- And Maybe More

Justin Elliott | March 25, 2010, 12:42PM

Stephen Green

In a blog post yesterday on the climate of threats surrounding health care reform, an editor and radio host employed by the Pajamas Media conservative blog outlet called for a return to the "fine tradition" of tar and feathering, and potentially even more extreme acts of violence.

In the post, titled "Put the Fear of Something Into Them," Pajamas' Denver Editor Stephen Green riffed on the recent threats and attacks on Democrats and concluded:

David Rivkin

Behind The Lawsuit: Florida AG Turned To Beltway Fixture -- And Old Lobbying Pal -- For Health-Care Challenge

Zachary Roth | March 25, 2010, 11:42AM

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and attorney David Rivkin, Jr.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has so far served as the public face for the legal challenge to the constitutionality of health-care reform. But on the legal heavy-lifting, McCollum has had help from a top member of Washington's conservative legal establishment and former Bush 41 White House lawyer, who once teamed up with the AG as a lobbyist.

David Rivkin, a lawyer with white-shoe DC firm Baker Hostetler, told TPMmuckraker that McCollum personally asked him to get involved with the lawsuit, once it appeared that the reform bill would indeed finally pass. "McCollum approached me on behalf of himself and several other AGs," said Rivkin, who along with Lee Casey, another Baker Hostetler lawyer, is listed on the lawsuit as "of counsel."

Health Care Reform

Angry Perriello: Boehner's Statement On Threats Was 'Outrageous' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 25, 2010, 9:58AM

Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA)

Following the incident in which someone cut a gas line at his brother's home -- whose address had been posted online by tea partiers -- Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA) says he isn't satisfied with a statement from Minority Leader John Boehner on threats against Democrats.

Boehner's statement said in part, "But, as I've said, violence and threats are unacceptable. That's not the American way. We need to take that anger and channel it into positive change."

Asked about it on CNN this morning, Perriello replied:

Health Care Reform

MAP: A Guide To Recent Vandal Attacks On Democrats (UPDATED)

Justin Elliott | March 24, 2010, 5:19PM

Smashed windows. Threats of violence. A slashed gas line. Reports of vandalism and threats against Democrats have been stacking up over the past few days.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today estimated that 10 members had been threatened over the health care vote.

So just how bad is it out there?

Ken Cuccinelli

VA Dems To AG: How Much Is Anti-HCR Lawsuit Costing Taxpayers?

Zachary Roth | March 24, 2010, 2:07PM

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli

The Democratic push-back against the GOP-led bid to challenge the constitutionality of health-care reform is gaining steam.

Virginia Democrats announced today that they've filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, seeking information on the amount of taxpayer money being spent on the lawsuit Cuccinelli filed yesterday, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Health Care Reform

Taitz Challenges Constitutionality Of Health Reform: It Blocks My Right To Practice Dentistry

Justin Elliott | March 24, 2010, 8:57AM

Orly Taitz

Joining a distinguished group of state attorneys general in challenging the constitutionality of the health reform legislation, now comes Orly Taitz, who in a new federal court filing argues that the bill violates her "right" to practice dentistry.

Along with her lawyerly pursuits, Taitz operates a dental office in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.

Health Care

Justice Department: 'We Will Prevail' In Health-Care Reform Lawsuit

Zachary Roth | March 23, 2010, 6:04PM

From left, Attorneys General Bill McCollum (FL), Ken Cuccinelli (VA) and Henry McMaster (SC)

The Justice Department is already signaling its willingness to "vigorously defend" the health-care reform law that has been challenged as unconstitutional by a group of attorneys general.

In a statement to Main Justice, a DOJ spokesman said:

Health Care Reform

Vandals Attack Dem Offices Nationwide

Justin Elliott | March 23, 2010, 1:00PM

Vandals smashed doors and windows at five Democratic offices around the country in the days surrounding the landmark House health care vote Sunday night, and a right-wing blogger in Alabama is taking credit for starting a so-called "window war."

Here are the reports we've seen from around the country on the mini-epidemic of brick-throwing:

Health Care

Could SCOTUS Be The Death Panel For Health-Care Reform?

Zachary Roth | March 23, 2010, 12:36PM

From left, Attorneys General Bill McCollum (FL), Ken Cuccinelli (VA) and Henry McMaster (SC)

Now that President Obama has signed health-care reform into law, opponents of the bill are pinning their hopes of stopping it on a last-ditch legal strategy. A group of 13 state attorneys general has filed suit (pdf), arguing that the law is unconstitutional.

The bid seems far-fetched at first. But the Roberts Court has recently shown a willingness to strike down landmark legislation -- charges of judicial activism be damned. So, given the stakes, it's worth asking: Could health-care reform have made it through the congressional gauntlet, only to end up dying in the courts?

(Late Update: The Justice Department is signaling that it's already gearing up for a fight. "We will vigorously defend the constitutionality of the health care reform statute," a DOJ spokesman says.)

Health Care Reform

Fat Paydays For Key Players On Both Sides Of Health Care Debate

Justin Elliott | March 18, 2010, 2:55PM

Key players in the year-long fight over health care reform -- including heavyweights like PhRMA's Billy Tauzin and Karen Ignagni of America's Health Insurance Plans -- rake in huge annual salaries, according to tax filings.

New IRS rules require non-profits, including trade associations representing health care stakeholders, to disclose more salary information than ever before, a development first reported on by Roll Call.

So TPMmuckraker decided to take a look at what the lobbyists and leaders of these organizations make for a day's work.

Tea Parties

All The Tea In China: Conservative Activists Gather At Hunan Dynasty For Anti-Reform Press Conference

Zachary Roth | March 9, 2010, 6:01PM

A coalition of Tea Party groups will gather in a Chinese restaurant on Capitol Hill tonight to announce plans for one final Washington showdown over health-care reform.

The event, dubbed "Take the Town Halls to Washington," is designed to bring Tea Party activists to Capitol Hill during the month of March, in order to target 50 House Democrats who have not yet announced their vote on health-care reform, according to a press release. It's being put together by Mark Skoda, a prime organizer of last month's controversial National Tea Party Convention, where Sarah Palin was the keynote speaker, and by Michael Patrick Leahy, a Tea Party leader and GOP consultant.

Eric Massa

Gibbs Calmly Takes Down Massa Over Allegations Of Dem Plot (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 9:59AM

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

With former Rep. Eric Massa appearing on Glenn Beck tonight and slinging charges of a Democratic conspiracy to force him out of Congress, the White House clearly wants to get out in front of this story.

Enter Robert Gibbs.

Jill Holtzman Vogel

GOP Lawyer's Latest Gambit: Anti-HCR Bill In Virginia

Zachary Roth | March 8, 2010, 3:35PM

Virginia State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Winchester)

A Republican state legislator with close ties to the GOP operatives behind a slew of hardball tactics has sponsored and helped pass a bill -- almost certainly unconstitutional -- that prohibits the federal government from forcing the state's citizens to buy health insurance.

The Virginia legislature last week passed legislation, based on a model created by the American Legislative Exchange Council, that declares unconstitutional any effort to require citizens to buy health insurance -- as the health-care reform measures passed by both chambers of the U.S. Congress would do. In the state Senate, the effort was led by Sen. Jill Vogel.

Health Care

Massa Blames Vast Democratic Conspiracy For Forcing Him Out (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 10:02AM

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

One of the motifs in the long radio monologue Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) delivered on Sunday is that Democratic leaders conspired to force Massa -- a no vote on health care -- out of Congress.

As TPMDC explains, Massa, who announced last week he will resign today, was a no vote on health care. His departure will mean the threshold for passing the bill would drop by one vote, to 216.

Lobbyists

Business Lobby Shifting Back To GOP

Zachary Roth | February 8, 2010, 4:04PM

Grover Norquist

Some of the business interests that had abandoned their traditional conservatism to flirt with the Obama agenda may now be shifting back towards the GOP -- another sign that the president's standing is badly weakened a year after taking office.

During 2008 and much of 2009, Obama enjoyed an unusual amount of support for a Democrat from the business community, much of which had grown disillusioned with President Bush and hoped for a return to the steady growth of the Clinton years. But after a string of political setbacks, high-lighted by Scott Brown's win last month in the Massachusetts Senate race, some key business groups and sectors appear to be shifting back to the GOP column.

Chamber of Commerce

Big Winner From Supreme Court Ruling: Chamber Of Commerce

Zachary Roth | January 21, 2010, 2:06PM

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue

One of the biggest winners from this morning's Supreme Court decision on campaign finance: the Chamber of Commerce. And that's not just because the court's ruling gives the corporations that make up the business lobby's membership an even greater voice in the political process than they've enjoyed until now.

As we explained last week, over the last decade, under CEO Tom Donohue, the Chamber has perfected a strategy of using the Chamber as a "pass-through" for corporations looking to run issue campaigns, but wary about having their names tied to the effort. In 2001, the Wall Street Journal described this as Donohue's "striking innovation." And a recent report made clear that the Chamber had played just this role on behalf of health insurers in a bid to stop health-care reform.

Chamber of Commerce

Chamber CEO's 'Striking Innovation': Helping Corporate Backers Fund Attack Ads On The Down-Low

Zachary Roth | January 14, 2010, 3:43PM

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue

This week, National Journal reported that the health insurance lobby funneled tens of millions of dollars to the Chamber of Commerce to fund an ad campaign attacking heath-care reform. The Chamber essentially acted as a pass-through, allowing the health insurers to avoid having their names tied to the campaign.

The story understandably generated outrage -- with health-care reform advocates now demanding hearings. But it looks like the pass-through tactic is nothing new. In fact, it's a technique the Chamber has been pioneering for almost a decade.

Health Care

GOP AGs Escalate Constitutional Battle Against Health Bill

Justin Elliott | December 31, 2009, 10:07AM

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster

The group of Republican attorneys general threatening a constitutional challenge of the so-called "Cornhusker Kickback" in the Senate health bill yesterday wrote a letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi outlining their complaints. 13 AGs, several of whom are running for governor, signed the letter.

The letter has sparked a new round of media coverage, with little analysis of the constitutional arguments being cited. Under the provision in question, all of Nebraska's expanded Medicaid costs would be covered by the federal government, with other states splitting the cost.

Health Care

Republican AGs Cycle Through Thin Constitutional Arguments Against Health Bill

Justin Elliott | December 29, 2009, 5:40PM

Attorneys General John Suthers of Colorado and Henry McMaster of South Carolina

The group of Republican state attorneys general waging a public campaign against the Nebraska Medicaid provision in the Senate health bill appear to be scrambling to come up with a valid constitutional argument, already discarding one obscure objection and coming up with two new arguments -- which legal experts say are still flimsy.

When the effort was first announced last week, the Republican AGs stuck to vague language about the (undisputed) unfairness of the "Cornhusker Kickback." Now, they've begun to do more research, or perhaps get more advice, and the result has been no less than three successive arguments against the measure.

Health Care

Law Prof: GOP State AGs' Objection To Health Bill Is 'Crazy Talk'

Justin Elliott | December 28, 2009, 1:03PM

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC)

The arguments of a group of Republican state attorneys general who are talking up a constitutional challenge to the "Cornhusker Kickback" provision of the health care bill are "strictly political" and do not have legal merit, a law professor tells TPMmuckraker.

"If a private individual brought the suit, the court might assess a fine for bringing a frivolous suit," says Timothy Jost, a health law specialist at the Washington and Lee University School of Law who favors the reform bill.

Health Care

GOP State AGs Prepare To Challenge Health Care Provision

Justin Elliott | December 24, 2009, 9:50AM

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster

Here's one that bears watching in the new year ...

South Carolina's attorney general is leading nine other state AGs -- all Republicans -- in threatening to sue over the provision of the health care bill that exempts Nebraska from new Medicaid costs, a measure secured by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).

Larry Klayman

Conservative Attorney: Secret Service 'Violated My Civil Rights' Outside White House

Justin Elliott | December 23, 2009, 9:38AM

Larry Klayman

Attorney Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch who first attained gadfly status during the Clinton years, is alleging that the Secret Service mistreated him when he went to the White House last week as part of an effort to force President Obama to reveal details of closed-door meetings with health care lobbyists.

It all went down last Wednesday as Klayman, who is also spearheading a legal fight against the Washington Times, decided to directly deliver a letter to President Obama arguing that White House health care meetings constituted a "de facto advisory committee" under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Health Care

Asked About Charge Of Meddling, Gibbs Says FDA Drug Imports Stand Hasn't Changed

Justin Elliott | December 22, 2009, 1:32PM

Robert Gibbs and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

Asked about a Dem senator's accusation that the White House pressured the FDA to send a letter that helped kill a drug importation measure, Robert Gibbs did not directly address the charge, but maintained that the FDA has had safety concerns for years.

After his drug imports amendment was defeated last week, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) asserted that an FDA letter raising safety concerns about the measure may have originated in the White House.

David McKalip

Hail Mary: Racist E-Mail Doc Reaches Out To Liberal Critics, Quoting Dean, Greenwald, Ed Schultz

Justin Elliott | December 22, 2009, 9:37AM

David McKalip

Tea Party activist David McKalip, who sent out the now-famous picture of Obama as a witch doctor, is now reaching out to the very progressives who sent him hate mail, calling on them to unite in a left-right coalition to "Stop the Final Corporate Takeover of Medicine."

In what he describes as "a call to action from an unlikely ally," McKalip, the Florida neurosurgeon who recently appeared as an anti-reform expert on Glen Beck's show, tells progressives to call their House representatives and "tell them 'No to the Senate Bill!'"

"Last July many of you emailed me to express your anger over an email I forwarded on that was offensive. ... Clearly you take action when the time is right and you follow the debate closely," he writes. "I kept your email addresses because I identify with fighters like you and I know that you are likely as worried as I am about insurance companies being in charge of your medical care and our health care system." (Read the full e-mail here.)

Health Care

Did White House Pressure FDA To Help Kill Measure To Make Drugs Cheaper?

Justin Elliott | December 18, 2009, 3:08PM

President Barack Obama and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) (inset)

After the Food and Drug Administration fired off a letter that helped kill a measure fiercely opposed by the drug industry, one Democratic senator is accusing the Obama White House of using the FDA -- which is supposed to offer apolitical opinions -- as a bludgeon.

The drug importation amendment to the health reform bill, which would have saved the government and consumers billions of dollars by allowing prescription purchases from Canada and elsewhere, was killed in the Senate late Tuesday with an assist from the FDA letter. The 51-48 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed.

Astroturf

We Were Framed: Business Lobby Groups Claim Ignorance On Ads Offering Rewards For Political Action

Zachary Roth | December 17, 2009, 8:36AM

Forget those forged letters, and fake rallies. This week, we've been digging into it what may be the latest tool in the astroturf toolbox: incentivized online advertising.

That's when internet users are induced to take political action, on behalf of a lobbying group, through websites or online ads that offer rewards -- airline miles, free trips, even a gift card to Hooters. The problem with the tactic is clear: when members of Congress get an email from a voter on an issue of public concern, they assume it's an expression of authentic grassroots passion. If the sender was in fact incentivized by the chance to win a free plasma TV, that assumption doesn't bear out.

Astroturf

Fight Health Reform -- And Win A Plasma TV: Health Insurer Says Ads Are Fake

Zachary Roth | December 16, 2009, 10:58AM

Last week, we learned that Facebook users could win virtual currency for use in online games by sending an email to Congress opposing health-care reform.

In response, both the health insurers coalition thought to be behind the ads, and the P.R. firm hired by the coalition, claimed ignorance. A spokesman for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), which runs the coalition, Get Health Reform Right, told us yesterday that the coalition's contract explicitly forbids the use of such "incentivized ads," and said the ads that showed up on Facebook must be fakes. Pam Fielding, the president of 720 Strategies, which handled the campaign, said the same thing.

TPMMuckraker Health Care

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