Firms reap millions in BWC deals; political contributors get big managed-care pacts
Source: By JAMES DREW and STEVE EDER, Toledo Blade (OH), Friday, September 8, 2006
CLEVELAND — In the decade since the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation turned over the management of claims of injured workers to private companies, several politically connected firms have collected millions of dollars from the agency while pouring money into the campaign coffers of the state’s political leaders.
...... Brian Rothenberg, a former press secretary to Democratic Cleveland Mayor Michael White, said the GOP-controlled state government in 1997 under Gov. George Voinovich set up a new political ATM when it certified managed-care organizations to handle claims. “The pay-to-play atmosphere really began with the Voinovich administration. Privatization and the creation of MCOs were a product of that culture,’’ he said.