patrick.net

Troy .... Medicare/Medicade annual budget is over $800 Billion. And yes, I do READ what I post.

As for you, do some research before flying off the handle ....

Why do Democrats support $500 billion in Medicare Waste/Fraud/Abuse?
MSNBC's First Read wonders why, if the President can so easily identify over $500 billion in Medicare waste, he hasn't done anything?:

Speaking of health care, how has Obama gone from touting $300 billion in Medicare waste/fraud/abuse savings in June as part of his plan to pay for health care to now claiming the White House has found $500-$600 billion in these savings. The fact is the president still hasn't release a detailed plan in general, let alone gotten into the "how to pay for" weeds when it comes to exactly how they found yet another $200 billion in cuts. This actually gets at the nut of the president's potential credibility problem: If there is so much money in waste/fraud/abuse in the Medicare system, then why do we continue to let it happen? Why are we waiting so long to deal with it? The average cynical voter is thinking, “Well, the president may be well meaning, but the bureaucracy that is the American government let this waste/fraud/abuse happen once, who is to say they won't let it happen again?”

RayAmerica says

Why do Democrats support $500 billion in Medicare Waste/Fraud/Abuse?
MSNBC’s First Read wonders why, if the President can so easily identify over $500 billion in Medicare waste, he hasn’t done anything?:

Ray-- could you link yto that article? Here's the only one I could find there

Law enforcement officials said it's just one of the many widespread, organized and lucrative schemes to bilk Medicare out of an estimated $60 billion dollars a year

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22184921/

You're off by an order of magnitude...

None of you have even read the bills in congress or the house, more speculation on what it will and will not do.

RayAmerica says

If there is so much money in waste/fraud/abuse in the Medicare system, then why do we continue to let it happen? Why are we waiting so long to deal with it?

Common Scams:
Equipment companies: they get a list of Medicare recipients (or cold call people) and send them equipment they didn't order. It's sent in the mail, can't reasonably be returned, and the companies change their addresses frequently so they're hard to catch.

Diabetic supplies - commercials like Wilford Brimley's classic offer "free" supplies, mail them to the patient and charge Medicare the max amount. They are on an automatic system where the supplies are sent every month, whether the patient needs them or not. IMHO supplies should be obtained from the local pharmacy so that the patient's supplies & meds are monitored.

Skilled Nursing Facilities, Therapy providers, home health companies charging for patients who probably don't need the care. Notes are "fudged" and/or doctored to make patients look sicker than they are.

Medical care provided that the patient doesn't need - extra tests, labs, treatments, etc.

Hospices signing on anyone they can, rather than discharging the patient if he/she doesn't appear to get better they keep them on service for several months. One nationwide hospice paid millions in fines for this practice, as well as refusing to allow patients to transfer to other hospices and refusing to allow them to "fire" the hospice.

The problem is that there are millions of providers and audits are conducted on a percentage basis. As quickly as one company is caught, others spring up. With the recession, there are cutbacks in the state-run programs the provide oversight. These providers give others a bad reputation, and also take advantage of seniors who don't understand the system.

Nomograph says

The purpose of Medicare is to provide medical care to elderly recipients,

I thought the purpose was to buy votes with other peoples money.