Govt: Medicare paid $47 billion in suspect claims -AP
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer Hope Yen, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON – The government paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient’s condition, wasting taxpayer dollars at a rate nearly three times the previous year.
Excerpts of a new federal report, obtained by The Associated Press, show a dramatic increase in improper payments in the $440 billion Medicare program that has been cited by government auditors as a high risk for fraud and waste for 20 years.
It’s not clear whether Medicare fraud is actually worsening. Much of the increase in the last year is attributed to a change in the Health and Human Services Department’s methodology that imposes stricter documentation requirements and includes more improper payments — part of a data-collection effort being ordered government-wide by President Barack Obama this coming week to promote “honest budgeting” and accurate statistics.
Still, the fiscal 2009 financial report — covering the first few months of the Obama administration — highlights the challenges ahead for a government that is seeking in part to pay for its proposed health care overhaul by cracking down on Medicare fraud. While noting that several new anti-fraud efforts were beginning, the government report makes clear that “aggressive actions” to date aimed at reducing improper payments had yielded little improvement.
In recent years, the suspect claims have included Medicare prescriptions from doctors who were dead, and requests for payment for medical supplies such as blood glucose strips for sexual impotence and diabetic shoes for leg amputees. Patients, many of them new citizens who barely speak English, are sometimes recruited by brokers who go door-to-door offering hundreds of dollars for use of their Medicare numbers.
Obama is expected to announce new initiatives this coning week to help crack down on Medicare fraud, including a government-wide Web site aimed at providing a fuller account of health care spending and improper payments made by various agencies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also will launch a Web interactive next month that will allow users to track Medicare payment information by categories such as state, diagnosis and hospital.
According to the report, the Bush administration from 2005-2008 reported improper payments of roughly 4 percent in the fee for service program, or about $17 billion total in 2008. Government officials at the time, however, typically did not consider a Medicare payment improper if the medical documentation was incomplete or a doctor’s signature was illegible. Since these were flaws that ordinarily bar payment, that methodology drew complaints from government auditors that the figures were understated.
For fiscal year 2009, the Obama administration began counting those claims as improper, but was unable to complete an official tally based on the new methodology. As a result, it officially reported improper payments for its fee for service program at 7.8 percent, representing a partial tally under the new formula. But it considers the unofficial tally of 12.4 percent to be more representative.
Beginning next year, the 12.4 percent figure — or a total of $47 billion in improper payments when counting both Medicare fee for service and managed care — will be used as the baseline estimate. The federal report sets a target of reducing improper payments in the fee for service program to 9.5 percent by next year, which would represent a savings of roughly $9.7 billion.
The findings come as the Obama administration is making Medicare anti-fraud efforts an important priority. In recent months, HHS has said it was multiplying by 10 the number of agents and prosecutors targeting fraud in Miami, Los Angeles and other strategic cities where tens of billions of dollars are believed to be lost each year. The new partnership seeks to have better sharing of real-time intelligence data on health care fraud patterns.
Officials say they also want to increase training and outreach among Medicare providers to reduce documentation errors, while proposed health overhaul legislation would increase background checks on Medicare claimants and impose stiffer penalties for false claims.
Other findings:
_In the Medicaid program for the poor, roughly $18.1 billion, or 9.6 percent of claims, are believed to be improper payments.
_Using a baseline of 12.4 percent in improper payments in the Medicare fee for service program, HHS is setting targets of reducing fraud and waste to 9.5 percent, 8.5 percent, and 8.0 percent, respectively, for fiscal years 2010 through 2012.
Records released in the past week showed that CMS for three years ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several Medicare programs. The agency received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors but didn’t respond to half of them, even after repeated letters.
(culled from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091114/ap_on_bi_ge/us_medicare_fraud)
Now ‘all Guns’ must be listed on your next (2010) tax return!
This was sent to me:
As if we didnt have enough to get upset about!
If you have a gun, I hope it isn’t registered!
Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2009 1040 federal tax form all guns that you have or own. It will require fingerprints and a tax of $50 per gun.
This bill was introduced on Feb..24, 2009, by the Obama staff. BUT..this bill will only become public knowledge 30 days after the new law becomes effective! This is an amendment to the Internal Revenue Act of 1986. This means that the Finance Committee has passed this without the Senate voting on it at all.
Trust Obama?…… you must be kidding!
The full text of the IRS amendment is on the U.S. Senate homepage, U.S. Senate http://www.senate.gov/ You can find the bill by doing a search by the bill number, SB-2099.
| You know who to call; I strongly suggest you do. Please send a copy of this e-mail to every gun owner you know.|
Text of H.R.45 as Introduced in House: Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 – U..S. … OpenCongress http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/text
Obama’s Congress is now starting on the firearms confiscation bill. If it passes, gun owners will become criminals if you don’t fully comply.
It has begun . . .Whatever Obama’s secret Master Plan is…..this is just the ‘tip of the iceberg!’
Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House. This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.
Even gun shop owners didn’t know about this because the government is trying to fly it under the radar as a ‘minor’ IRS revision, and, as usual, the ‘political’ lawmakers did not read this bill before signing and approving it!
To find out about this – go to any government website and type in HR 45 or Google HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009..
You will get all the information.
Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm – any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:
-It is registered -You are fingerprinted -You supply a current Driver’s License -You supply your Social Security # -You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing -Each update – change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25 – Failure to do so you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail. -There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18. -They would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.
If you think this is a joke – go to the website and take your pick of many options to read this. It is long and lengthy. But, more and more people are becoming aware of this. Pass the word along. Any hunters in your family pass this along.
This is just a “termite” approach to complete confiscation of guns and disarming of our society to the point we have no defense – chip away a little here and there until the goal is accomplished before anyone realizes it.
This is one to act on whether you own a gun or not…
Search Results – THOMAS (Library of Congress) target=_blankhttp://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.45
H.R.45: Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 – U.S. Congress – OpenCongress http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show
H.R. 45: Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 (GovTrack.us) target=_blankhttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45
Please.. copy and send this out to EVERYONE in the USA , whether you support the Right to Bear Arms or are for gun control. We all should have the right to choose.
I refuse to allow anybody to nullify the 2nd amendment!
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