Three California officials who oversee billions of dollars in Medi-Cal drug spending failed to disclose free flights, hotel rooms and meals paid for by nonprofit groups funded by drugmakers, according to CaliforniaWatch.

One official, Pilar Williams, accepted free travel even though she has a direct role in negotiating rebates with drugmakers. Williams, the pharmacy division chief at the Department of Health Care Services, also helped decide which drugs were among the $8.5 billion worth of meds the state dispensed to low-income patients in the past three years, the .

The travel was paid for by several nonprofits that exist for the sole purpose of funding conferences and meetings, a chairman of one group told CaliforniaWatch, which adds that the groups charge registration fees up to $2,000 per person to drug reps and other execs who do business with Medicaid programs. Since 2005, those execs contributed about $1.8 million to the groups to pay for conventions - including travel, lodging and entertainment for the state Medicaid pharmacy directors, California Watch has found.

In September, Williams attended a convention at a safari-themed resort in the Wisconsin Dells. The agenda for one day of the conference included a 90-minute presentation in the morning and networking, dining and hospitality until midnight. And four trips taken by Medi-Cal pharmacy officials during the last six months of 2009 came to light under new gift-reporting regs administered by the Fair Political Practices Commission, the state’s political watchdog agency.

A Medi-Cal spokesman confirmed officials took about a dozen similar trips dating back to at least 2006, which should have been reported as gifts, but the omissions will soon be corrected. Medi-Cal policies prohibit employees from accepting gifts that exceed $320 from any firm, subsidiary or person that “has financial dealings with the department.”

The spokesman confirmed the officials who accepted trips had direct roles in drug spending and policy, but added a review of its conflicts policy found no violations. Why? The trips were funded by nonprofit groups and not by companies seeking state business. However, the officials did “stray” from FPPC regs in failing to report travel gifts on annual disclosure forms.