There is trouble with the trees

Republican congressional candidate Blaine Luetkemeyer has gone on the offensive in the U.S. Ninth District contest, challenging Democratic candidate Judy Baker’s expertise in the realm of health care and accusing her in television advertisement of being a tax raiser.

Baker, D-Columbia, has made her experience working as a health care consultant a common drawing point during her political career. She even went so far to declare herself the “health care candidate” during one of the primary debates. But Luetkemeyer’s campaign has brought up a 2002 audit of the University of Missouri Health system that showed that University Physicians lost money.

Baker worked in 2000 in a consulting role as interim director of operations and later that year became interim executive director, a position which she served in until about November of 2001. She said in 2004 that she stayed on as a consultant until February 2002.

The audit, conducted by then-state Auditor Claire McCaskill, estimated that from July 1, 1999 until Dec. 31, 2001, University Physicians lost around $2 million in revenues since bills were being submitted late to insurance companies or were for services not pre-authorized. The audit stated that University Physicians credit balances totaled $3.7 million on Dec. 31, 2001, which exceeded industry standards by roughly $2.6 million.

Luetkemeyer’s campaign says that the audit raises questions about Baker’s competency in the realm of health care. “If Judy Baker mismanaged health care and this level as this audit indicates she did, then the people of the 9th District need to be informed about that and have to wonder how she would handle health care issues in Congress,” said Luetkemeyer spokesman Paul Sloca. “She has made health care a centerpiece of her campaign yet this audit, by fellow Democrat Claire McCaskill, raised serious questions about her credibility on the issue.”

This is the second time McCaskill’s audit has been raised by a political opponent during Baker’s political career. Republican Bob Northup raised the issue when Baker was seeking the open 25th District House seat in 2004.

At the time, Baker told the Tribune that the situation at UP was “bad” when she arrived and that she instituted alterations. She said there was little monitoring of untimely filing and a lack of pre-authorizations at the time she arrived in 2000, adding that she “instituted more aggressive procedures to track those issues.”

Baker campaign spokesman Paul Tencher pointed to testimonials from two individuals who served as executive director of UP — Herb Stanley and Patrick Thompson — who told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this week that Baker performed well in her position.

“Blaine Luetkemeyer wants to distract from the fact that he supports failed economic policies that give tax breaks to millionaires like the Wall Street executives fleeing with golden parachutes this week,” Tencher said.

Luetkemeyer’s campaign, however, seems to be ready to push the issue as the election cycle continues. Sloca stated that the campaign has submitted a Sunshine Request to State Auditor Susan Montee to seek documents about the audit.

Meanwhile, Luetkemeyer’s first ad of the general election season is attacking Baker’s record on taxes. The ad cites a study from the Heritage Foundation that claims tax cuts pushed through during the Bush administration have saved residents of the U.S. Ninth District an average of about $1,700. Luetkemeyer’s ad states that Democratic nominee Judy Baker “wants to give your $1,700 to a broken Congress so it can keep up its wasteful and runaway spending.”

Sloca says that claim is based on an answer Baker gave a Stephens College candidate forum. KRCG news anchor Kermit Miller asked: “Are you ready to get rid of the cuts that have been instituted over the last 5 or 6 years?” Baker quickly answered ‘yes’ before switching to discuss how the deficit was a “national security issue,” an issue that other candidates at the forum had been talking about at the time.

Tencher said “there’s a difference between wanting to reform the Bush tax cuts and wanting to eliminating the Bush tax cuts.” He said that Baker would support Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s tax plan that would cut taxes for some income groups and raise taxes on individuals making over $250,000.

Sloca said that supporting Obama’s plan “is still a tax increase any way you look at it.”

ADDENDUM: Tencher e-mailed the Tribune and say that Baker does not have a specific position on Obama’s plan. “Judy wants a tax policy” that “has fundamental changes” for middle class families, he said. “These changes will lower taxes on Missourians. Mr.Luetkemeyer supports tax cuts for wealthy individuals that do not even live in the district.”