President Obama may have insisted that Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber never worked on staff, but a closer look at Gruber’s finances show that he bankrolled quite a bit of money from the federal government.
“It’s a big deal, there are a number of states that have some explaining to do as well.”
Gruber had contracts with several government agencies that ranged from thousands to millions of dollars where his primary job was to sell the single-payer model to state-level governments, according to public record.
Fox News' Bret Baier called this a "big deal" as he tried to explain how Gruber was able to amass up to $5.9 million in total consulting fees from agencies such as the NIH, the HHS and even the State Department.
“He was well-respected in the circle of pro-Obamacare, and trying to explain it he even came up with a comic book, which adds to the unbelievable scenario of this story," Baier said.
Even though most people are focusing on Gruber's almost $400,000 contract with HHS, eight states hired Gruber on a contract basis to advise or assist in creating state-based healthcare exchanges.
Gruber was responsible for advising the healthcare exchanges in Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin, The Washington Post reports.
Of the eight different states he advised, Michigan gave Gruber the most lucrative contract at $481,050. Minnesota came in second, awarding Gruber $229,000 (not $329,000 as the Post originally reported) to check in twice a week with the state to make sure the exchange was on track to be completed according to the administration's standards.