Medicare Official Lies, Cheats ... And Doesn't Get Fired

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A high-ranking Medicare officer, whose medical license was suspended because he falsified documents concerning his continuing education, was reassigned to another government agency, officials said yesterday.

It's the latest example of how no one gets fired by the Bush Administration. People can lie, they can be incompetent, they can break rules. But they won't get fired. Sometimes, they even get promoted.

Oh what a wonderful world it must be to have a job in that administration. What job security!

Oh sure, some in the administration resign under pressure, like the recently incompetent FEMA Director Michael Brown. But the Brownies of the world are the exception.

More often are people like Sean R. Tunis, who was the chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In that role, he helped determine what services and medical devices Medicare would reimburse.

Tunis had been placed on paid administrative leave in April. He was reassigned within the Department of Health & Human Services yesterday, and will now serve as a senior biomedical research scientist at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. It's unclear whether his salary, estimated at as much as $162,000, will drop with his new title.

Oh what a wonderful world it must be to have a job in that administration. What job security!

What did Tunis do?

According to an investigation by the Maryland Board of Physicians, Tunis in 2002 used government supplies to falsify continued medical education certificates. He falsely claimed that he had completed 50 hours of courses. (Under Maryland law, physicians must complete continuing education to keep their licenses current. Often the requirements can be met by attending professional conferences, completing online courses or reviewing academic journal articles.)

The board suspended Tunis' medical license for at least one year, fined him $20,000, and ordered him to complete an ethics course and 35 hours of continuing medical education.

At the time of his suspension, Bush administration officials said they did not plan to take any action until the Maryland board completed its investigation.

And now the administration has taken action. It's reassigned him. An HHS spokesperson described Tunis' work yesterday as "stellar."

Go figure. He was a "stellar" liar.

Tunis, in an April interview with the Baltimore Sun, blamed "lapses of memory" for his error. He later told the Washington Post that he was guilty of "careless record-keeping."

Oh what a wonderful world it must be to have a job in that administration. What job security!

For what it's worth, Tunis seemed more than happy yesterday with the Bush Administration's firing policy -- or lack thereof.

"I regret having made mistakes in handling my (continuing education) records, but I am now pleased to be moving forward into a new phase of my career," he was quoted by the Associated Press.

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This article first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

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1. anyone?