Parson used private plane of Missouri nursing home exec cited for numerous violations
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson flew to Washington, D.C., last week on the private plane of a nursing home executive whose company has been investigated for Medicare fraud and accused of numerous health and safety issues.
Parson and his chief of staff, Aaron Willard, traveled to the nation’s capital Wednesday, Dec. 11, on a plane belonging to Rick DeStefane, owner and president of Reliant Care Group LLC.
DeStefane accompanied Parson and Willard on the trip. He also shot photos and videos of the flight to D.C., a visit with the governor to the White House, a conversation he witnessed between Parson and Vice President Mike Pence and the flight back to Missouri. He posted them on Snapchat.
The flight followed a fundraiser in St. Louis, attended by Parson, where five nursing home companies combined to donate $70,000 to Uniting Missouri, a political action committee set up to support his 2020 campaign for governor.
Neither DeStefane nor his company were among the donors that night. But both have donated thousands to Democratic and Republican candidates in Missouri, including $25,000 to Parson’s 2016 bid for lieutenant governor.
DeStefane personally gave $2,500 to Parson’s 2020 gubernatorial campaign last year. The maximum allowable donation is $2,600.
The cost of the private flight will either be paid for by Uniting Missouri or DeStefane could contribute the cost of the flight to the PAC as an in-kind donation, said John Hancock, chairman of Uniting Missouri.
Candidates are only allowed to coordinate with independent PACs on fundraising and are prohibited from coordinating on advocacy or messaging. Hancock said Uniting Missouri is covering the cost of the flight because the trip followed its St. Louis fundraiser.
The governor’s office said in an email to The Star that Parson and Willard were in Washington, D.C., to attend “an official event on a public policy matter hosted by the White House.”
In an email to The Star, DeStefane noted that he owns and operates more than 70 companies in the state of Missouri, and said he supports Parson because the governor “has brought stability and economic growth to the state.”
DeStefane added that he is “always happy to provide the convenience of my plane, but the governor and I both insist that its use be reported in compliance with state law.”
Eric Slusher, spokesman for Parson’s likely Democratic opponent in 2020, state Auditor Nicole Galloway, criticized the governor’s use of DeStefane’s plane, calling Parson a “corrupt career politician.”
“While the governor was flying on a private jet giving away access to an insider, Nicole Galloway was calling grassroots supporters from her car and thanking them for contributing $5,” Slusher said in an email to The Star. “Team Parson can expect a vigorous campaign that holds him accountable for working exclusively for the well-connected while average Missouri families continue to struggle.”
Medicare settlement
In 2017, The Star reported on DeStefane’s longtime friendship with then-U.S Sen. Claire McCaskill.
As part of that story, The Star detailed allegations of health and safety lapses at DeStefane’s nursing homes, as well as an $8.3 million settlement with the federal government to end an investigation into charges his company submitted false claims for unnecessary physical, speech, and occupational therapy to residents.
The company denied submitting false claims and said it settled to avoid a protracted and expensive legal fight.
Since The Star’s 2017 story, the company’s nursing homes have continued to face scrutiny from regulators.
Over the last two years, the Bridgewood Health Center in Kansas City has paid more than $700,000 in fines to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Fines are levied when a nursing home gets a serious citation or fails to correct a citation for a long period of time.
On its most recent inspection in March, the facility was cited for 13 health and safety deficiencies, including failure to ensure residents with mental health disorders received appropriate individual treatment; failure to timely report suspected abuse, neglect, or theft, and report the results of the investigation to proper authorities.
The most recent public inspection records for the company’s two other Kansas City facilities show Gregory Ridge Health Care Center received 15 health citations and Parkway Health Center received 22.
The state average is 8.5.
On the issues at Bridgewood, DeStefane said in an email that it “involves a complex situation concerning a facility which provides care to a very unique and complex population not cared for by any other nursing home in the state of Missouri.”
In a 2017 interview with the Hannibal Courier-Post, DeStefane noted that Reliant is one of the few companies that accepts and treats a large population of patients with mental illnesses and behavioral problems. Treating these residents often comes with more challenges, he told the Courier-Post, and that is reflected in yearly inspection reports.
During his time in the state Senate, Parson served on the Missouri Health Facilities Review Committee, a panel that, among other duties, decides whether new nursing homes or assisted living facilities are built in Missouri.
In 2012, Parson tried unsuccessfully to make changes to the committee’s proceedings that critics argued would have made the process more political. The change would have given more control of the approval process to a small subcommittee dominated by legislators.
After opposition arose from some long-term care groups, particularly those affiliated with nonprofit homes, the change was abandoned.
In July, Parson signed a bill that allows nursing homes to have their Medicaid reimbursement rate increased if they invest in improvements to their facilities.
Private plane
Use of private planes has been an issue in Missouri politics for years.
Former Gov. Matt Blunt favored private flights paid for with campaign money over the state-owned plane because he said it would save taxpayer money. Transparency advocates argued that also made it much harder to know who was ultimately covering the cost of the governor’s travel.
The issue reemerged during the short tenure of former Gov. Eric Greitens, after he also decided to rely on private flights paid for by political donors.
It was later revealed that in his first year in office, a state contractor and major campaign donor paid for $90,000 worth of travel for Greitens — including trips to Washington, Las Vegas and a seaside resort island in Georgia.
Parson still uses the state-owned plane for some official travel, such as a trip to St. Louis last week for the grand opening of the St. Louis aquarium.
Hancock, chairman of Uniting Missouri, said when the governor is in need of a plane to travel for fundraising purposes, Uniting Missouri picks up the tab by either paying for it or accepting it as an in-kind contribution.
In Oct. 2018, Uniting Missouri reported paying $634.50 apiece for a trip to Washington, D.C., for Parson and Willard. The governor’s official calendar notes he was in D.C. on Tuesday, Oct. 9, and Wednesday, Oct. 10, but doesn’t include any detail about his activity during the trip.
In its most recent disclosure forms filed with the state ethics commission, Uniting Missouri reported paying more than $37,000 to Branson Aircraft LLC for expenses listed as “travel for fundraisers.”
According to its filings with the secretary of state’s office, Branson Aircraft LLC is connected to Kevin Knasel, who donated $2,600 to Parson and $20,000 to Uniting Missouri last December.
In July, Uniting Missouri paid $634.50 to a company connected to DeStefane, The Big Blessing LLC, for travel expenses. In the past, political candidates who used DeStefane’s plane were billed by The Big Blessing.
For example, Democrat Chris Koster’s 2016 gubernatorial campaign paid The Big Blessing more than $64,000 over a two-year period. DeStefane also donated $30,000 to Koster’s campaign during the 2016 campaign, when there were no contribution limits in Missouri.
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 2:28 PM.
