Nevada Donor Network asked for documentation for Knights, Raiders tickets
Expanding its probe of the organ transplant industry, a congressional subcommittee on Thursday requested detailed documentation from Nevada Donor Network of its expenses.
In a letter to the Nevada group’s chief executive, subcommittee members said they want to determine whether Medicare had reimbursed costs unrelated to organ acquisition or patient care.
In particular, the subcommittee seeks documentation related to the purchase by the not-for-profit group of season tickets for the Vegas Golden Knights and Las Vegas Raiders, costs the Nevada organization previously said were paid for through donations, as well as executive retreats to California wine country.
“If Medicare funds reimbursed you for these executive perks, it would be inappropriate and potentially unlawful,” states the letter, signed by U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill,, chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, and subcommittee member U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif.
Through a statement provided by a public relations firm, Nevada Donor Network said, “It is our intent to cooperate with the subcommittee’s requests, and we remain fully committed to openness and transparency.”
The subcommittee is examining expenses related to organ procurement organizations , which are charged with recovering organs from deceased donors for transplantation. Nevada Donor Network is widely regarded as highly effective in serving this purpose.
After reviewing the Nevada organization’s Medicare cost reports, the subcommittee determined that “season tickets to professional sports games and board retreats to California wine country do not directly appear anywhere on the cost reports,” according to a letter to President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Ferreira.
The subcommittee said it seeks to determine whether these expenses might be hidden in the broad categories of general and administrative expenses reimbursed by Medicare.
Medicare pays for a large number of organ transplant operations, including more than 50 percent of kidney transplants.
The letter also questions whether Medicare could have paid for organ transplant expenses unrelated to Medicare recipients. It described as suspect that every single one of the 1,174 viable kidneys reported by Nevada Donor Network from 2014 to 2019 was charged to Medicare.
It also took note that the organization’s executives are “highly compensated,” with taxpayers covering more of the executive compensation. Ferreira earned $1.3 million between 2017 and 2019, including $473,000 in 2019, with taxpayers funding $517,000 of this compensation through Medicare.
In its request for documents, the subcommittee also sought more information on the relationship between the group and Origin Biologics, and a joint venture to build a tissue processing plant.
The letter follows a subcommittee hearing earlier this month, where Krishnamoorthi took aim at the Nevada group and Ferreira, who appeared to testify as the president of trade group the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations. The subcommittee chairman said at the hearing that whistleblowers had accused Ferreira and others of backing a strategy for impeding the investigation.
On Thursday, the subcommittee also sent a letter to the trade group’s chief executive requesting financial documents detailing that organization’s expenses.
Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.
