Health reform director’s industry ties questioned

They’re not claiming she’s directly involved in wrong-doing but journalists investigating Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, found that she took home over $6.6 million in compensation and stock options as a director at multiple medical companies that were under federal investigations and faced whistleblower lawsuits.

Before joinging the Obama administration in March DeParle served as a director on numerous corporate boards; five of which paid half a billion dollars over the last five or six years to settle fraud, including Medicare over-billing, kickbacks, and failure to recall a faulty heart device, according to the report by Fred Schulte and contributor Mia Steinle.

In addition to serving on eight corporate boards, she was also managing director of a private equity firm that invests in health care companies, the report says.

At three of the companies DeParle served on committees responsible for monitoring the companies' compliance with laws and regulations in addition to her board duties.

The report quotes several critics, including Dr. David Himmelstein, associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and a co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, who said:

“This woman owes her fortune to the corporations that she is making decisions about.

“She cashed in really big on her previous role in government and made millions and millions of dollars. Then she divests and all of a sudden she’s Snow White. It’s ridiculous.”

The report is published by msnbc.com and the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.