Watchdog to examine Medicare chief’s publicity spending

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog says it will review costly outside contracts to provide publicity for Medicare chief Seema Verma, whose agency oversees health insurance programs covering more than 100 million Americans.

The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office said Friday it will examine several publicity contracts, following a request by congressional Democrats. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stopped work on the contracts this week while HHS, its parent agency, conducts its own review.

The outside contracts, including arrangements with Republican consultants and a longtime spokesman for Verma, were first reported by Politico.

Democrats complained that Verma has steered taxpayer money to political allies at the same time her agency slashed the ad budget for the Affordable Care Act, hindering enrollment.

There was no immediate response from Verma.