Medicare chief Seema Verma asked for taxpayers to cover nearly $50,000 worth of uninsured goods stolen from her as she gave a speech in California.
Verma, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spoke at an event in San Francisco in July. During her speech, someone stole her luggage, including tens of thousands of dollars worth of her jewelry.
Verma filed a $47,000 claim for lost property on Aug. 20, 2018, according to Politico. The Department of Health and Human Services, prohibited from reimbursing employees for some stolen items such as jewelry, honored just $2,852.40 of her claim.
An HHS spokesperson said the department typically does cover the cost of items stolen during work trips and other related events as long as the items “are not inherently for other uses.”
“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.”
Two other staffers also lost luggage to thieves during the trip. Their bags were with Verma’s in a rented Chevrolet Tahoe SUV and were stolen as Verma gave her speech. The department’s lawyers advised all three to give a detailed report to HHS of all stolen goods, including Verma’s jewelry.
Verma initially estimated the cost of her stolen goods at $20,000, according to a police report over the incident. She revised her estimate up to $47,000 when filing her claim with HHS.
The Senate confirmed Verma as head of CMMS on March 13, 2017. She is one of the administration’s leading critics of proposals for government-controlled healthcare known as Medicare for All. She used her San Francisco speech to bash the policy, which has received substantial support in the Democratic presidential primary.
