How can it be so easy to bilk Medicare??
Health-care experts say the simplicity of Campos Ramirez’s scheme underscores the scope of the growing fraud problem and the need to devote more resources to theft prevention…
What’s that you say? Not enough administrative resources dedicated to preventing fraud?
A critical aspect of the problem is that Medicare, the health program for the elderly and the disabled, automatically pays the vast majority of the bills it receives from companies that possess federally issued supplier numbers.
So Medicare’s approach to paying claims is not unlike, say, shoveling money out the door?
Officials who oversee the Medicare program say they are vigilant despite time pressure and limited resources. Employees review fewer than 5 percent of the nearly 1 billion claims filed each year…This year, CMS is working to finalize a rule that would prevent convicted felons from obtaining Medicare billing numbers.
But the important thing here is that Medicare is keeping administrative costs down, and passing the savings on to you, the taxpayer.
June 13, 2008
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