The Kerry KickbackMassachusetts hospitals are poised to receive a $3.5 billion windfall in federal funding over the next 10 years thanks to a little-known provision Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) inserted into the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, also known as “Obamacare.”
The increased funding—$367 million a year in the form of Medicare reimbursement payments, according to the Federal Register—would not only come at the expense of hospitals in the 49 other states, but would also directly benefit an organization that has given generously to Kerry’s campaign.
The obscure policy change was formally approved by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in July 2011. It was prompted by a small, 15-bed hospital located on the upscale island of Nantucket, a popular vacation spot for wealthy New Englanders where Kerry and his wife own a $9 million waterfront home.
Nantucket Cottage Hospital, which had been operating under a special “critical access” status, sought a number of years ago to be reclassified as a “rural” hospital. The CMS approved the change for fiscal year 2012—a minor adjustment on paper, but one with profound implications...
http://freebeacon.com/the-kerry-kickback/
