Thomas E. McInerney (with Paula G.)
March 5, 2001 Thomas E. McInerney is a general partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, one of the nation's largest private investment groups. Since 1998, accusations of Medicare fraud have swirled around health care companies owned by Welsh, Carson. The industry has been feeling the pinch of new Medicare rules that reduce reimbursement rates, and some firms have reportedly bolstered their bottom lines by bilking the federal government for millions of dollars. Quorum Health Group -- owned in part by Welsh, Carson -- recently agreed to pay $77.5 million to settle fraud charges brought by the feds. During the last election cycle, McInerney gave the maximum allowable contributions to two lawmakers with the power to shape rules that affect his company's investments: Senator Bill First (R.-Tenn.), who chairs the Subcommittee on Public Health, and Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a member of the subcommittee's minority. In a recent public filing, Quorum expressed concern that reforms being considered by the subcommittee would be "financed, in part, by reductions in payments to health care providers under Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal government programs" -- providers, that is, like Quorum. McInerney has focused much of his energy on his firm's extensive investments in telecommunications, another industry subject to extensive federal regulation. In recent years, Welsh, Carson has bought significant shares of broadband and communications providers like Winstar Communications and BTI Telecom. McInerney is the chairman of Centennial Communications, a wireless rural telephone company, and director of The Cerplex Group, The BISYS Group, MedE America, and SpectraSite Holdings. -- Michael Scherer | | |
