By now you've probably heard that Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) was arrested yesterday on a wide variety of charges related to corruption in office. What you may not know is that much of the fraud and bribery of which he stands accused was related to the health industry.
One of the main positions that Blagojevich was attempting to leverage (using President-elect Obama's soon-to-be empty Senate seat) was a position as HHS secretary. Another possibility, according to him, was a high-paying position with Change to Win, which is a union coalition that pushes healthcare reform.
Worse still, Blagojevich allegedly attempted to get a $50,000 campaign contribution from the CEO of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. This was supposed to be "payback" for $8 million in funding for pediatric care, and the governor threatened to take it back when the contribution wasn't made, officials say. Children's Memorial says the funding was Medicaid reimbursement.
To learn more about the charges against Blagojevich:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)