Grassley
Direct
I
spoke
with Tom
Williamson
of
KIIC
Radio
in
Albia
and
Kyle
Ocker
of
The
Knoxville
Journal
Express
about
my
inquiry
into health
insurers’
gaming
of
Medicare
Advantage,
mental
health
care,
the
pending
nominations
of
the
secretary
of
Agriculture
and
the
associate
attorney
general,
my
voting
record
and
Veterans
Affairs
whistleblower
protections.
Q&A:
Skilled
Foreign
Work
Visas
Q:
What’s
happening
with
your
efforts
to
improve
the
skilled
foreign
worker
visa
programs?
Q:
How
would
your
bipartisan
legislation
fix
what’s
broken?
Quick
Links
A
health
insurer reportedly is charging
customers
more
for a
brand
name
prescription
drug
than
a
generic
drug
when
the
insurer’s
own
doctors
explicitly
prescribed
the
brand
name
drug
for
medical
reasons.
I
wrote
a
letter
seeking
answers
from
CareFirst
on
this
practice.
After
an
employee
was
charged
with
violating
resident
privacy
on
social
media at
a
Florida
assisted
living
facility,
I sought an
explanation.
I'm
evaluating
the
response
I
received
from
the
facility.
This
is
just
the
latest
incident
to
come
to
light.
After
I
pressed
on
numerous
such
incidents
around
the
country,
the
Centers for
Medicare
and
Medicaid
Services
made
clear
that
social
media
exploitation
is
a
prohibited
form
of
abuse.
After
reports
of a
large
psychiatric
services
company’s
inability
to
properly
care
for
its
patients,
I
sought answers
from a
government
watchdog
and
an
accrediting
organization.
This
work
continues
as
reports
of
new
problems
arise.
I
am
continuing
my
inquiry into the
Medicare
Advantage
program.
The
federal
government
is
doing
a
poor
job
of
monitoring
insurers’
gaming
to
boost
their
payments
at
taxpayer
expense. I
requested
information
on
what
the
agency
in
charge
is
doing
to
protect
taxpayers.
Hearing
loss
is
the
third
most
prevalent
chronic
health
condition
facing
older
adults, yet
hearing
aids
are
too
expensive
for
many
people. There
is
growing
support
for
the
bipartisan
Over-the-Counter
Hearing
Aid
Act
of
2017 I’m
helping
to
lead.
This
bill
will
help
with
affordability.
I
have
long
advocated
for
reforms
to
EB-5
visa
programs
that
address
widespread
fraud
and
national
security
vulnerabilities.
I raised
questions
to
Homeland
Security
Secretary
John
Kelly
after
hearing
about
an
elaborate
EB-5
investor
visa
scheme
that
allowed
fraudsters
to
pocket
$50
million
from
Chinese
investors
that
should
have
gone
to
U.S.
job-creating
development
projects.
While
the
projects
never
materialized,
more
than
100
Chinese
investors,
including
several
Chinese
fugitives,
obtained
visas.
Post
of
the
Week
Driving
through
eastern
Iowa
for
county
meetings
on
a
beautiful
spring
night
A
photo
posted
by @senatorchuckgrassley on
April
17,
2017 |