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Daily Dose for July 08, 2008
Ford Trial Update
Ford Trial Update -- State Sen. John Ford's trial continued yesterday with the testimony of business associate Ronald Dobbins, a Philadelphia businessman who testified under an immunity order. Dobbins formed a partnership with Ford in 2001 called Managed Care Services Group, set up to help Wisconsin-based Doral Dental win a TennCare contract. Within weeks of winning an $18M TennCare contract in October 2002, Doral began paying the consulting partnership $40,000 a month. As general partner, Ford got 40% of the partnership's revenue from Doral. Meanwhile, Nashville TV station News Channel 5 is involved in a lawsuit linked to the Ford case. The news station is filing suit against a gag order issued by the judge in the case that none of the witnesses speak to the media. However, one of the witnesses is NewsChannel 5's own investigative reporter Phil Williams.
Chattanooga: We're Still in Running -- The Chattanooga Times Free Press reacted to media reports yesterday that Alabama was the front-runner for the much-sought deal to bring a Volkswagen production plant to Tennessee. Industry analysts say that VW is looking for extra sweeteners for the deal from TN, which is not yet settled. Volkswagen executives meet today to make a recommendation on the location of the new plant, although a decision might not be released until after July 15. Meanwhile, the Nashville Post reports that despite industry reports that Alabama was selected instead of Tennessee, TN's offer was better. [Correction noted by an avid reader]
Docs Target Senators -- Doctors groups are taking aim at Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker for voting for a bill they say would only increase insurance company profits at the expense of providing adequate care to patients. The bill in question cuts payouts to doctors treating patients on Medicare. Doctors say with the bill, they cannot afford to take new patients on Medicare because of the limited payouts. When asked to explain their votes, Alexander and Corker each said the bill delaying the physicians’ payments would have negatively affected Tennessee hospitals, particularly Memphis’ Regional Medical Center. The American Medical Association campaign includes TV and web-based ads.
