Medicare 'Luau' Investigation

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is at it again. This time he wants details of travel by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services employees to "lavish" events sponsored by contractors. From his letter to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan:

Information and documents available to the Committee suggest that the annual Tri-Regional

conference held at the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa appeared to be more of a party than a

diligent working meeting. For example, the photos of the conference posted on the Tri-Regional

website: http://www.triregional.com/gallery.asp, suggest a cruise ship atmosphere rather than that

of a government working meeting to improve quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries. The pictures

depict a luxurious resort, lavish dinners, dessert buffets, and Hawaiian dance parties -- all in a

tropical beach locale.

Grassley says the photos make him "wonder whether the federal employees who are supposed to

make sure the contractors are doing the job we pay them to do are instead going to luaus..." So I was expecting some pretty juicy stuff. But I think the photos fall far short of what NFL referees would call "indisputable visual evidence." Sure, it looks like the organizers of the event went with a corporate casual beach theme, but does this really look like a luau to you? Or this? Or this? Seems like your typical government conference to me--albeit it in a very nice location.