Medicare Fraud: A $60 Billion Crime
CBS News, October 25th, 2009
Of all the problems facing the United States right now, none are more important than health care.
President
Obama says rising costs are driving huge federal budget deficits that
imperil our future, and that there is enough waste and fraud in the
system to pay for health care reform if it was eliminated.
At
the center of both issues is Medicare, the government insurance program
that provides health care to 46 million elderly and disabled Americans.
But it also provides a rich and steady income stream for criminals who
are constantly finding new ways to steal a sizable chunk of the half
trillion dollars that are paid out each year in Medicare benefits.
In fact, Medicare fraud - estimated now to total about $60 billion
a year - has become one of, if not the most profitable, crimes in
America.
This story may raise your blood pressure, along with
some troubling questions about our government's ability to manage a
medical bureaucracy.
If you want to find Medicare fraud, the first place you should look is South Florida, where
60 Minutes and
correspondent Steve Kroft were told it has pushed aside cocaine as the major criminal enterprise.
It's a quiet crime - there are no sirens or gunfire. The only
victims are the American taxpayers, and they don't even know they are
being ripped off.
FBI Special Agent Brian Waterman, who
60 Minutes rode with
for several days, told us the only visible evidence of the crimes are
the thousands of tiny clinics and pharmacies that dot the low-rent
strip malls.
You don't even know they're there because there's never anyone inside. No doctors, no nurses and no patients.
"This office number should be manned and answered 24 hours a day,"
Waterman explained, standing outside one of those small, unstaffed
businesses.
Read more of this article.Supplemental Medicare Insurance: work with a pre-screened insurer
to find the right Medicare Advantage program for you and your medical
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Professional Financial Advisers: Find out what a financial adviser can do for you at NewRetirement.com.