Today, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., questioned Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg during the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing “The Boeing 737 MAX: Examining the Design, Development, and Marketing of the Aircraft.”
In her questioning, Davids pressed Muilenburg on his company’s decision to minimize pilot training requirements for the 737 MAX.
“Mr. Muilenburg, the push across Boeing to limit costly pilot training requirements on the MAX, despite the company’s commitment to safety and pilot training, is clear from the questions we’ve heard today, the slides we’ve heard and [the slides] up here right now. Now is your chance to provide clarity on how you mesh all of this information with your continued statements about commitment to safety,” Davids said.
Davids also was able to get Muilenburg to commit to extending the deadline for the families of the 346 victims of the two 737 MAX crashes to file a claim for the Boeing compensation fund.
Video of Davids’ question and Muilenburg’s answer can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgWIjzA2k24&feature=youtu.be.
Pizza delivery driver attacked
A pizza delivery driver was attacked in a robbery on Oct. 29 at 22nd and Silver Court in the Argentine area of Kansas City, Kansas, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.
According to the social media post, a victim stated that he completed a pizza delivery, and then an unknown suspect pushed him and stole a pizza delivery bag from the front seat of his car.
Autism Concepts, Inc., an Overland Park-based provider of therapy services for children with autism, has agreed to pay $300,000 to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it submitted false claims to the TRICARE program, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister announced today.
TRICARE is a federal health insurance program for active and retired military service members and their families.
The United States alleged that Autism Concepts, Inc. and its director Nancy Champlin represented in claims to TRICARE that the company provided individual applied behavioral analysis services to children with autism spectrum disorders when the company actually provided the services to groups of children at the same time. TRICARE does not cover the services in a group setting.
Autism Concepts and Champlin agreed to pay $300,000 to resolve the allegations.
“TRICARE providers must comply with program requirements that are designed for effective treatment for children with special and particular needs,” McAllister said. “This office is committed to making sure federal funds are spent as intended, while protecting federally funded programs that make it possible for military families to receive vital services.”
“I applaud the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for their continued efforts to hold health care providers accountable to the American taxpayer,” said Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, director of the Defense Health Agency. “The efforts of the Department of Justice safeguard the health care benefit for our service members, veterans and their families. The Defense Health Agency continues to work closely with the Justice Department, and other state and federal agencies to investigate all those who participated in fraudulent practices.”
“As the investigative arm of the Department of Defense – Office of Inspector General (DoDIG), one of the primary missions of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) is the detection of fraud, particularly fraud that targets critical DoD health care funding,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael Mentavlos of the DCIS Southwest Field Office. “Today’s resolution demonstrates our commitment to working with DoDIG’s Deputy Inspector General for Audit as well as the FBI, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the Employee Benefits Security Administration to ensure federal health care programs, such as TRICARE, are protected from companies and/or individuals who attempt to take advantage of them.”
McAllister commended the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration and Assistant United States Attorney Jon Fleenor for their work on the case.
