Examples of Gross Government Failure

The aforementioned 60 Minutes story also speaks to Medicare patients who have reported fraud but insist that nothing has been done about it. One woman has been reporting fake charges to her account since 2003 but more than 6 years later, Medicare hasn’t put a stop to it.

Speaking of Unchecked Fraud

This January 2010 NBC news story states, “Officials said Medicare pilferage is so widespread, with so much of it never detected, that no one can accurately say how much it costs American taxpayers. But a figure widely used by law enforcement officials suggests a staggering $60 billion a year is stolen”. The story cites very troubling figures, like more than 72% of Medicare-paid HIV/AIDS treatment in 2005 came from South Florida but only 8% of Medicare’s HIV/AIDS patients reside in that area. The article gives other unsettling examples, like a single $5,000 wheelchair that was billed to Medicare repeatedly to the point that this one device ultimately cost $5 million. Oh, and no patient ever even received this device because the entire thing was fraudulent. One criminal who spoke to MSNBC anonymously after his arrest said he was “amazed” at how Medicare unquestioningly paid his fake claims, even though the patients whose names he billed under were reporting the charges as fraudulent.

The Healthcare Debate

The hot topic for months has been universal healthcare in the US. Most of the arguments in favor of it are pretty far off the mark. There are lots of things the government could do to improve access & lower costs for all Americans, yet they’re not even entertaining such action. Our leaders choose to ignore all practical solutions, forego simple fixes & acknowledge their own role in the exponential rise of healthcare costs. There are intelligent, efficient, safe & sensible ways the government could make change to benefit everyone. They could increase funding for R&D, thereby limiting the ultimate costs to providers & consumers. They could increase the length of patents; Companies developing new drugs & technology have a very short time to recoup costs & profit from their hard work & investment before generics are allowed. If we lengthen that window, it will help to keep costs in check. Of course, lack of tort reform is a big part of the problem as well. The law can allow reasonable compensation for negligence without allowing unlimited damages but the legal lobby is apparently too generous to our politicians for this to be considered.