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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Former lawmaker works for beneficiary of his workers' comp law
Thursday April 17, 2003
SACRAMENTO (AP) A former state lawmaker who pushed a bill last
year that helped keep outpatient surgery fees high now works as a
consultant for a chain of clinics that benefited from his
legislation.
Pressure has been building in recent years to cap fees charged
by outpatient centers. Employers say those uncapped charges are
causing their workers' compensation premiums to skyrocket.
Last year's major workers' compensation bill, however, carried
by former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, D-Montebello, didn't include
fee limits.
A month after being termed out of the Legislature, Calderon
listed Pacific Hospital, an operator of eight surgery centers, as
one of his consulting firm clients, the San Francisco Chronicle
reported Thursday.
Calderon could not be reached for details on his arrangement
with Pacific Hospital. On state disclosure reports, he listed
income of between $10,000 and $100,000 from his consulting
business. His only other listed client, a water district in
Southern California, said its contract with Calderon is worth about
$5,000.
Calderon received about $100,000 in campaign contributions and
from lobbyists representing surgery centers in 2001 and 2002.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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