Mock News on Medicare Called Illegal
WASHINGTON — Mock news reports produced and distributed to local television stations by the Bush administration to promote the Medicare prescription drug program violated a provision of federal law that prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for "covert propaganda," the General Accounting Office determined Wednesday.
The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, noted that the administration had labeled its entire "video news release" package so that the 126 television stations receiving it would know that it came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.
But that fact was not apparent to the 41 million senior and disabled Medicare beneficiaries who were the target audience of the "purported news story," which included the voices of off-camera production company employees identifying themselves as Washington reporters, the GAO said in a decision signed by General Counsel Anthony H. Gamboa.
"Nothing in the story packages permit the viewer to know that Karen Ryan and Alberto Garcia were paid with federal funds through a contractor to report the message in the story package," the agency said. "The entire story package was developed with appropriated funds but appears to be an independent news story."
Ryan was the "reporter" for the English-language stories and Garcia for the Spanish-language version.
The GAO also found that the department had violated a second law, the Antideficiency Act, against using federal money for unauthorized purposes. Since "covert propaganda" is illegal, the GAO said, there were no funds authorized to produce it. The packages cost $43,000 to make.
According to the GAO, that law requires agencies that violate it to report their actions to the president and Congress. But Bill Pierce, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, indicated that although top department officials were still reading the 16-page decision, it was unlikely the administration would comply.
"GAO opinions are not binding on the executive branch," he said. "This is the opinion of the GAO. We disagree with that opinion."
He also said it was the responsibility of the television stations' editors and producers to inform viewers of the source of the material.
"This was in no way covert, as they claim," Pierce said. "This was overt, in every way
