Medicare Chief Seema Verma Tried to Have Taxpayers Reimburse $47K Worth of Stolen Jewelry and Clothes: Report
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Trump’s Medicare chief tried to get taxpayers to reimburse her for the costs of jewelry, clothing, and other items after they were stolen out of her luggage during a work-related trip, Politico reports. Seema Verma, the administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, filed a $47,000 claim for lost property on Aug. 20, 2018, after her bags were stolen while she was giving a speech in San Francisco in July, according to documents reviewed by Politico. Verma’s claim included $43,065 for about two dozen pieces of jewelry, including a $5,900 Ivanka Trump-brand pendant, based on an appraisal made three weeks after the items were stolen. A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told Politico the department has a long-standing policy of paying for items that were lost on a work trip. “It’s perfectly appropriate that the administrator filed a personal property loss claim for goods stolen while on work travel and this is not an unusual practice for federal employees,” the spokesperson said. The federal health department ultimately reimbursed Verma $2,852.40 for her claim, a CMS spokesperson told Politico.