Trump administration spent billions in hospital funds on Warp Speed

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
STAT
@statnews
SCOOP: The Trump administration quietly spent $10 billion from a fund Congress created to help health care providers with Covid-19 costs, and used it on Operation Warp Speed contracts instead.

Trump administration spent billions in hospital funds on Warp Speed
The Trump administration quietly spent $10 billion from a Covid-19 fund for hospitals and used it to bankroll Operation Warp Speed contracts.
statnews.com
4:00 AM · Mar 2, 2021

https://www.statnews.com/2021/03/02/trump-administration-quietly-spent-billions-in-hospital-funds-on-operation-warp-speed/

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration quietly took around $10 billion from a fund meant to help hospitals and health care providers affected by Covid-19 and used the money to bankroll Operation Warp Speed contracts, four former Trump administration officials told STAT.

The Department of Health and Human Services appears to have used a financial maneuver that allowed officials to spend the money without telling Congress, and the agency got permission from its top lawyer to do so. Now, the Biden administration is refusing to say whether the outlay means there will be less money available for hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, and other providers.

Several provider groups said they had not heard that $10 billion for providers was spent on Warp Speed contracts until STAT’s reporting. Congress set aside that money to help health care providers pay for pandemic-related expenses including staffing, personal protective equipment, care for uninsured patients, and vaccine distribution. One of the top hospital lobbyists in D.C., who also did not know about the outlay, emphasized how much some hospitals still need the funding.

“Hospitals in need of the funding would be outraged to know that some of the money was siphoned off, even for important uses, because Congress was clear that this money was for providers and clinicians,” said Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals.

*snip*

[soothsayer]

1. So it wasn't used to develop vaccines. And we didn't buy enough.

So... just stolen?

[Irish_Dem]

2. I think we are going to find out there is a lot of missing money.

[soothsayer]

3. Yep

[Botany]

4. How much did Trump, Kushner, or Trump connected people skim off the top?

And what was produced by the $10,000,000,000 that was spent?

[Irish_Dem]

5. Kushner said everything was theirs. And he meant it.

[Botany]

6. And not only did they have no plans on what to do but there was the 20 million doses of ....

... vaccines that just were not there when Team Biden took over. Normally I'm not for
torture but I bet Jared would sing like a bird given the chance.

Grifters gotta grift.

[Irish_Dem]

7. The US Treasury was too tempting for a band of criminal sociopaths.

[Botany]

8. How much did Trump nick the Secret Service for golf carts and lodging?

I know it is > $500,000.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Exactly. I am sure he did this kind of thing all the time.

[Botany]

10. He had the Air Force when they were flying to Europe go out of their way so their people ....

... could stay @ one of his golf courses in Scotland and buy gas for their planes from
some Trump connected entity. But in the end what about HRC's emails?

[Irish_Dem]

11. Exactly. He worked every angle to fleece the American taxpayer.

And this is the stuff we know about.
What else did he do?

[Hortensis]

12. We knew the money had disappeared, wasn't spent, was misspent, etc.

All these expenses will be met because they have to be. Note that money meant to pay for "uninsured patients." The vast majority of even insured people who required hospitalization would be on the hook for thousands of dollars of care insurance doesn't stretch to. That's a lot of devastation and a lot of voters.

I was admitted to a Covid ward last summer, then transferred to a regular ward when I ruled out. Does that mean government guarantees don't cover any of it? We haven't seen a bill in all this time, not even to say it's been paid, much less covered our breakfast table with the stacks of them one would expect.

[MacKasey]

13. So how many people died because the hospitals did not get the money?