In discussing healthcare, the subject of Medicare fraud often comes up. The big thing that is often talked about is the billions of taxpayer dollars wasted because of fraudulent over-payments. There is another type of Medicare fraud where Medicare beneficiaries are targeted and the cost can be very personal.
I read an article from AARP today about a bill to reduce both types of fraud. Of course, it is near impossible to totally prevent attempts at fraud and Medicare is a very big target. So why not tighten things up a bit and make things a bit tougher for those committing the fraud and those who help wittingly or unwittingly.
The article is Pass the PRIME Act and it is from the AARP Bulletin. Read it over and see what you think. Seems reasonable to me.
Jack, if I’m not mistaken, didn’t the admin include a significant amount of money that they would “save” as a result of a marked effort to rout out fraud and waste in the system? The “cost savings” would be used to help defray the costs of the ACA over 10 years. Fraud and waste is epidemic in many federal (and state) programs. it should aggressively be pursued.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Right, but the ACA savings are only a small part of what the government loses to fraud. I’d like to see fraud pursued much more aggressively.
But I don’t know the specifics of how this bill will work. Sounded good to me just looking at it generally but I suppose the devil in in the details. I am sure there are at least 2 sides to whether this bill is a good idea and I’d like to hear more about it.
Jack