Gruber billing referred to Vermont attorney general

Vermont officials ignored "obvious signs" of problematic billing by health care economist Jonathan Gruber, the state auditor said in a memo released Monday.

Gruber's invoices lacked important details and claimed dubious numbers of work hours as he prepared economic models for a single-payer health care system — but state officials failed to scrutinize the invoices, Auditor Doug Hoffer wrote.

Hoffer said he was referring the matter to Attorney General William Sorrell, who said in an interview that the auditor raised "serious questions."

Gruber said Monday he had no comment. Gov. Peter Shumlin's spokesman, Scott Coriell, referred a request for comment to Administration Secretary Justin Johnson.

"We don't believe that the work was overstated, in part because we were dealing with Dr. Gruber on a daily basis, and he was doing the work that we asked him to do," Johnson said.

EARLIER COVERAGE

Auditor: Invoices unsupported from Vt. health "expert"

Vermont paychecks stop for consultant Gruber

Shumlin: Vermont needs Gruber's work

3 ask Shumlin to cut ties with health economist Gruber

Gruber, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first came under political fire in November for comments he made about "the stupidity of the American voter" with the federal Affordable Care Act.

At the time, Gruber was working under a $400,000 economic modeling contract for the state of Vermont. Shumlin denounced Gruber's comments but said he had no concerns about transparency with Vermont's health care reforms overall.

State officials said that Gruber would receive no further pay as he fulfilled the remainder of his contract, but that his research assistants would continue to be paid.

In the report released Monday, the state auditor said the Agency of Administration "failed to exercise due diligence," naming Robin Lunge, director of health care reform, and Michael Costa, deputy director of health care reform.

Gruber submitted two consecutive invoices in September and October claiming the exact same figures — 100 hours for Gruber at $500 per hour, and 500 hours for his research assistants at $100 per hour. Only one research assistant worked on the project, according to the auditor's report.

"The evidence suggests that Dr. Gruber overstated the hours worked by the RA and that the Agency of Administration ignored the obvious signs that something was amiss," Hoffer wrote. "Even if the State was not overly concerned about the first invoice, Ms. Lunge and Mr. Costa should certainly have been alarmed by the second. But except for one brief e-mail exchange, there is no evidence that they were troubled, nor did they communicate any concern to Dr. Gruber."

The auditor believes Gruber assumed that he could use round numbers on his Vermont bills, "although the plain language of the contract says otherwise."

Lunge and Costa referred requests for comment to Johnson, the secretary of administration.

Johnson said he has informed his staff that invoices must include more detailed information. He also said Gruber's original contract "could have been more specific" about the state's expectations.

Vermont continues to withhold payment for parts of Gruber's contract as officials seek more information.

"I think the strict terms of the contract were met," Johnson said, "but that doesn't necessarily make anyone feel any better about how little detail there was in the invoices."

Contributing: Associated Press. Contact April Burbank at (802) 660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank