State rep gives back Big Pharma donations
With an MD, a PHD, a slot on Ohio State’s medical faculty and experience treating COVID-19 victims, state Rep. Beth Liston is one of the Ohio legislature’s most outspoken advocates for vaccines.
Still, she was bothered by accusations that she was merely shilling for big pharmaceutical companies. So the Dublin Democrat did something rare for a lawmaker who’s not been busted for questionable deeds: She voluntarily gave back campaign contributions from vaccine makers.
It wasn’t much: $300 from Pfizer, $250 from Johnson & Johnson.
But she feels better.
“I didn’t want people to worry that my consistent pro-vaccine message had anything to do with financial gain. I support vaccines because they save lives,” she said.
The Pfizer check arrived a couple weeks after Liston led the way in debunking the testimony of Gop-called witness Sherri Tenpenny, an osteopathic doctor from suburban Cleveland who falsely claimed that COVID vaccines magnetized people so keys and forks would stick to them. However, an attempted demonstration for lawmakers failed.
The health-care newsletter STAT reported that Liston wasn’t the only one to return a campaign check due to vaccine politics: the Republican leader of the Tennessee Senate made a similar refund for political reasons.
Pfizer made by far the most campaign contributions of any drug company to state officials nationwide, per a STAT analysis. The drug maker’s political action committee and other representatives wrote checks to 1,048 candidates in 43 states during the 2019-20 campaign cycle.
Together, 80 Ohio state lawmakers — 60% of the entire legislature — divided $247,158 from all pharmaceutical interests in the two-year cycle. The top recipients were Senate President Matt Huffman, R-lima, with $29,600, and former Speaker Larry Householder, Rglenford, at $14,000.
Speaking of campaign contributions from pharmaceutical firms, some have without fanfare abandoned their pledges from early 2021 to halt donations to candidates who denied Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
One of the beneficiaries: Ohio GOP Congressman Bill Johnson of Marietta. He got a $1,000 check from Merck, according to watchdog Accountable.us.
A year ago, Johnson voted against certifying Biden’s election, saying “most of the people I represent know the truth: that the news media acting as the public relations department of the Democrat Party, Big Tech’s big thumb on the social media and search results scales and credible allegations of election fraud in some states” resulted in an unfair election.”
The money to Johnson from Merck, which had pledged a “commitment to unwavering ethics and integrity,” was part of $56,000 given last year to what Accountable.us dubbed the “sedition caucus.”
Pfizer gave at least $49,500 in 2021 to members of the group after saying last January “we feel it is important to reinforce that Pfizer PAC supports individuals who are guided by the principles that mirror Pfizer’s core values.”
Johnson & Johnson, after pausing contributions a year ago, has provided $22,500 to Biden election deniers since August. Eli Lilly, which said in January 2021 that “we expect any candidate we support to demonstrate respect for people and respect for our democratic process and institutions,” added $32,500 once donations resumed in July.
“Major corporations were quick to condemn the insurrection and tout their support for democracy — and almost as quickly, many ditched those purported values by cutting big checks to the very politicians that helped instigate the failed coup attempt,” the watchdog’s president, Kyle Herrig, said in a statement.
Legal dispute over $22B Ohio Medicaid managed-care contract appears settled
Citing the potential loss of perhaps 1,000 Ohio jobs and disruptions in the lives of 240,000 Medicaid recipients, leaders of Paramount Health Care challenged state Medicaid officials’ decision last year to dump the Toledo company in favor of larger companies starting in mid-2022.
Now Paramount has agreed to sell the Medicaid portion of its expiring contract to one of those major company’s that won a piece of a $22 billion managed-care contract, regarded as the largest in Ohio state government history.
In a deal announced just before Christmas, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio is paying an undisclosed amount for the contract. Paramount, which has provided Ohioans with Medicaid managed care services for the past 28 years, was the only “incumbent” whose bid was rejected.
“Ensuring quality care for members and minimizing local job losses have been top priorities for Paramount since we learned that we had not been awarded a contract,” said a statement from the company, an affiliate of Toledo-based nonprofit Promedica.
Paramount president Lori Johnston said, “We believe that out of the managed care organizations chosen for the new Ohio Medicaid contract, Anthem is best suited to continue providing access to the high-quality health care and support services that our members have come to expect.”
The company statement also noted “if the transaction closes as planned, Paramount will not pursue further legal action against (the Medicaid department).” Its lawsuit was thrown out in Franklin County Common Pleas Court last fall but an appeal was being considered.
Medicaid executives must approve the deal, expected to be finalized well before the new contracts take effect July 1.
The six companies that won the monster contract now essentially will manage day-to-day operations of Ohio’s huge Medicaid program, which pays for the health care of low-income and disabled residents. Gov. Mike Dewine called for the new contracts nearly three years ago, in large part because the existing pacts did not allow for tight enough oversight of pharmacy benefit managers — the drug-supply chain middlemen blasted for vastly overcharging for their services.
After Paramount’s vocal protests over not getting a new contract, state lawmakers — including Senate President Huffman — inserted a provision in the proposed state budget last summer that would have forced a re-bid of the $22 billion pact, which underwent months of painstaking review. That section was removed during conference committee negotiations. drowland@dispatch.com @darreldrowland