Verma’s PR Consultants Violated Contracting Rules, Watchdog Says (1)

The head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services violated federal contracting regulations in awarding $6.4 million for public relations services, the HHS Inspector General’s office said in a report Thursday.

The CMS and its administrator, Seema Verma, allowed contractors to make management decisions, improperly treated them as employees, and paid some questionable costs, the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General said.

In response, the Department of of Health and Human Services agreed to improve its contracting oversight going forward, but the agency disagreed with how the inspector general characterized the contractors’ tasks.

“Despite attempts by some ...