Medicare chief asked taxpayers to cover stolen jewelry
Source: Politico
Seema Verma requested $47,000 for items taken from an SUV that took her to a speech.
By DAN DIAMOND
12/07/2019 07:44 PM EST
Updated: 12/07/2019 09:33 PM EST
A top Trump health appointee sought to have taxpayers reimburse her for the costs of jewelry, clothing and other possessions, including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, that were stolen while in her luggage during a work-related trip, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.
Seema Verma, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, filed a $47,000 claim for lost property on Aug. 20, 2018, after her bags were stolen while she was giving a speech in San Francisco the prior month. The property was not insured, Verma wrote in her filing to the Health and Human Services department.
The federal health department ultimately reimbursed Verma $2,852.40 for her claim, a CMS spokesperson said.
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Verma’s claim included $43,065 for about two dozen pieces of jewelry, based off an appraisal she'd received from a jeweler about three weeks after the theft. Among Verma's stolen jewelry was an Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, made of gold, prasiolite and diamonds, that Verma’s jeweler valued at $5,900.
Verma’s claim also included about $2,000 to cover the cost of her stolen clothes and another $2,000 to cover the cost of other stolen goods, including a $325 claim for moisturizer and a $349 claim for noise-cancelling headphones.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes CMS, said the department has a longstanding policy of paying for certain goods when they are lost during a work trip, so long as they “are not inherently for other uses,” which is why Verma was partially reimbursed.
"When paying for such goods, the department pays a discounted rate based on age for the items that were lost," the spokesperson said. "It’s perfectly appropriate that the administrator filed a personal property loss claim for goods stolen while on work travel and this is not an unusual practice for federal employees."
But the department is expressly prohibited from reimbursing staff for lost items like jewelry, the spokesperson said.
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Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/07/medicare-chief-asked-taxpayers-to-cover-stolen-jewelry-077761
Kevin M. Kruse Retweeted
https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse
honestly, owning an Ivanka brand pendant merits resignation on its own
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BREAKING: A Trump health appointee sought to have taxpayers reimburse her for the costs of jewelry and clothing, including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, stolen on a work-related trip
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She “conveniently” had an appraisal done 2 weeks before the “theft” happened? Hmmmmmm.
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Looks like it was planned all along. Appraisals done 3 weeks before the trip? Give me a small break. This is common practice for government employees? Seems like a racket to me.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
No way we'd be reimbursed.
And she needed all that for one night? 
to $144.00 per month from $135.00.............................and she wants me to pay for her fucking jewelry being stolen...........................my question is why was it left in the vehicle and two, does she not have vehicle insurance to cover for her stupidity...................and then she has the audacity to claim that since it wasn't her car that taxpayers should pay for her stupidity.......................because it was a vehicle owned by the taxpayers................no wonder my Part A& B went up..............................
November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough........................
Ask your auto insurance company. It isn’t tax payer’s responsibility.
There's no way the insurance company would pay the claim because of her own stupidity.
So, she decided that the taxpayers would never miss 47 grand!
She seems nice! 
