Co. with stake in bill is big donor

By Michael Whiteley
01/26/12 © WorkCompCentral.com

South Florida-based Automated Healthcare Solutions and six affiliates gave more than $500,000 to committees associated with conservative causes and candidates in 2011, state campaign contribution records show.

AHCS, which has a major stake in a physician-dispensing bill, also gave $32,500 to lawmakers. 

Records filed with the Florida Secretary of State's Office covering the 2012 election cycle show AHCS made political contributions primarily to Republican members of the Florida House and Senate and contributed nearly $352,000 to the Florida Republican Party last year.

The Miramar-based company, which provides claims management software that assists physicians in dispensing repackaged drugs, has led the opposition to House Bill 511 and Senate Bill 668.

The bills would cap the price of repackaged drugs – those primarily dispensed by physicians – at the average wholesale price set by the original manufacturer, plus a $4.18 dispensing fee.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) estimates the bills would save workers' compensation payers $62 million a year – the difference between the prices charged by pharmacies and the markup added to injured workers' prescriptions by repackagers and Florida doctors.

Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, the prime sponsor of SB 668, noted the amount that AHCS contributed to state lawmakers and political causes following a Senate committee hearing on the bill last week to underscore what's at stake in the legislation.

"You've got one company that's donated $470,000 during the last quarter alone. They've spent millions of dollars on this issue," Hays said.

Alia Faraj-Johnson, an outside spokeswoman for the South Florida firm, said Monday that AHCS and its affiliates are promoting a variety of causes.

"AHCS's founders take pride in participating in the process. They're supporting candidates they believe in," she said. "Their contributions do not have to do with anything other than electing people in whose principles they share."

AHCS co-founders Dr. Paul Zimmerman and Gerald Glass have been outspoken opponents of the legislation. They dispute NCCI's savings estimates and say the cap will discourage doctors from dispensing prescriptions to injured workers who may face delays in getting the medicine they need from Florida pharmacies.

According to state records, Zimmerman and Glass also are listed as managers of six other limited liability companies that gave money to Florida political causes in 2011. Those include Automated Practice Solutions, Associate Surgeons Network, the Orthopaedic Fellowship Group, Boys from Dover, Green Solar Transportation, and Durable Medical LLC.

Five of the companies share the home address of AHCS on Southwest 149th Avenue in Miramar. The sixth, Green Solar Transportation, is an energy company based in Coral Springs, Fla.

AHCS did not respond to a request for further information on the affiliates Monday.

Florida law limits contributions to state lawmakers to $500 per primary and $500 per general election, according to the Secretary of State's office. Each company was limited to giving $500 through Aug. 14, the date for the state primary election.

According to campaign records, neither Zimmerman nor Glass has given individually to the state races. In all, their LLCs gave to 31 of the state's 120 House members and 18 of the 40 sitting members of the Florida Senate in races that stretched from the tip of South Florida to the Panhandle.

Of the total contributions, the companies gave the most to Rep. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. She received $500 from AHCS and $500 from each of the six affiliates for a total of $3,500.

AHCS also gave $20,000 last year to Saving Florida's Heartland, a committee of continuing existence affiliated with Grimsley.

AHCS gave another $10,000 to the Committee of Conservatives for a Better Tomorrow, a committee affiliated with Rep. Robert Schenck, R-Spring Hill, chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, which now is considering HB 511. Schenck also received a $500 donation from AHCS last March.

AHCS and its affiliate, Associate Surgeons Network, gave $500 each last year to Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, who sponsored the 2012 version of the repackaging price cap bill in the House.

In the Senate, $3,000 went from six of the limited liability companies to Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Ft. Myers, deputy majority leader of the Senate in contributions of $500 each.

Another $500 went to Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and founder of the Florida Leadership Fund, which received $25,000 from AHCS last September.

AHCS also gave $50,000 to the Florida Leadership Alliance, which is affiliated with Florida Senate President-designate Don Gaetz, R-Destin. Gaetz is scheduled to succeed current Senate President Mike Haridopolos in November.

Grimsley, Benacquisto and Hudson did not return telephone calls on Monday. But Faraj-Johnson said the donation to Hudson underscores that ACHS is not focusing on drug repackaging with its money.

"This is not a means of affecting public policy," Faraj-Johnson said.

SB 668 cleared the Senate Banking Committee by a vote of 7-4 last week and is tentatively scheduled for hearings in health and budget committees in the Senate. House Bill 511 was approved by the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee last month and is pending in Schenck's Health and Human Services Committee

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