Government at the Brink, by Fred Thompson: on Health Care

Medicare loses $11B per year to errors and fraud

Each year, the Medicare program loses a significant portion of its total budget to erroneous payments. These include payments to people who are not eligible for Medicare, payments for goods or services that are not covered by Medicare, or higher payments than allowed for covered goods or services. The $11.9 billion lost in 2000 due to errors was 6.8% of the entire fee-for-service budget for that year.

In the “rent-a-patient” scheme, organizations pay for individuals to go to medical clinics for unnecessary diagnostic tests and cursory examinations, and Medicare is billed.
In the “pill mill” scheme, a pharmacy sells medication to pill buyers on the street, who then sell the drugs back to the pharmacy.
In the “drop box” scheme, a private mailbox facility is used as the fraudulent health care provider’s address to submit claims and receive payments from Medicare and Medicaid.

These criminals seem capable of cheating the government with frightening ease. Source: Government at the Brink, by Fred Thompson, Vol.2, p. 47-49 Jun 3, 2001

Medicare drug payment methods are fundamentally flawed

Medicare’s payment methodology for drugs is fundamentally flawed. Medicare bases its payments on a drug’s “average wholesale price.” However, the “average wholesale price” that Medicare uses is essentially meaningless since it bears little or no resemblance to actual wholesale prices available to physicians, suppliers, and other large government purchasers. The Medicare reimbursement rate for a particular drug sometimes also includes payment for dispensing and administering a drug. Source: Government at the Brink, by Fred Thompson, Vol.2, p. 50-51 Jun 3, 2001

The above quotations are from Government at the Brink: The Root Causes of Government Waste and Mismanagement, by Fred Thompson. Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Fred Thompson on Health Care.
*Candidates and political leaders on Health Care:*
*Incoming Obama Administration:* Pres.:Sen.Barack Obama V.P.:Sen.Joe Biden State:Hillary Clinton Staff:Rahm Emanuel Treas.:Tim Geithner DoD:Robert Gates A.G.:Eric Holder DHS:Janet Napolitano DoC:Bill Richardson	*Outgoing Bush Administration:* Pres.:George Bush V.P.:Dick Cheney A.G.:John Ashcroft(2005) DEA:Asa Hutchinson(2005) USDA:Mike Johanns(2007) EPA:Mike Leavitt HUD:Mel Martinez(2003) State:Colin Powell(2005) State:Condoleezza Rice HHS:Tommy Thompson(2005)	*2008 Presidential contenders:* AIP: Frank McEnulty Constitution: Chuck Baldwin GOP: Sen.John McCain GOP VP: Gov.Sarah Palin Green: Rep.Cynthia McKinney Independent: Ralph Nader Liberation: Gloria La Riva Libertarian: Rep.Bob Barr NAIP: Amb.Alan Keyes Socialist: Brian Moore
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