Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has vowed to oppose a Biden nominee and said she’d encourage her colleagues to do the same over an apparent conflict of interest.
Demetrios Kouzoukas, who was nominated to serve as a trustee on the boards of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, refused to say whether he’d resign from his current role on the board of Clover Health, which offers insurance to seniors through Medicare Advantage, if the Senate confirmed him.
“Are you planning to resign the job that pays you $100,000 a year while you are a trustee for Medicare?” Warren asked the nominee repeatedly.
But Kouzoukas avoided answering her directly: “The review of my current activities and my credentials and qualifications is one that all nominees undergo and that’s one that led to the president putting my nomination before this body. I’m grateful for that and if given the opportunity…”
After more back and forth on this point, Warren made clear she believed there to be a conflict of interest.
You know, Mr. Kouzoukas, I think you think you’re gonna get away with this by just not answering the question and not having any clip that admits how much money you’re taking from a private insurance company that makes its money through Medicare Advantage, at the same moment that you’re trying to take a public role that will influence whether we focus on the fraud in Medicare Advantage, or whether we turn a blind eye to it.
Let’s be clear. If Mr. Kouzoukas ignores the fraud, he helps Clover. If he focuses on the fraud, he hurts Clover. The conflict of interest here is so big and so pervasive that there is no action that Mr. Kouzoukas can take that doesn’t either help or hurt Clover, the company that pays him $100,000 a year to sit on its board and watch out for the company. And there is no waiver that can change that fact. This kind of conflict is shocking and it is deeply unethical. Not a single other trustee has ever received compensation from an insurance company while acting as a Medicare trustee.
And if you won’t step down from the Clover board, then you should withdraw your nomination. And if you do not withdraw, given the clear conflicts posed by your board service, I will strongly oppose your nomination and I will encourage every other senator in this body to do so as well. (Transcript via Mediaite)
Mr. Kouzoukas’s responsibilities on the @CloverHealth board would directly conflict with his duties as a Public Trustee for the Social Security & Medicare Trust Funds—if confirmed. He can dodge questions, but this conflict is shocking and deeply unethical. pic.twitter.com/VWPPYpNRew
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 29, 2023