Medicare fraud reaches epidemic proportions, but CMS doesn’t care….

Through a variety of billing schemes, phonymedical supply companies and payoffs to unscrupulous doctors andpatients, these thieves now steal an estimated $60 billion a year intaxpayer money that is supposed to finance health care for 43 millionAmerican seniors and the disabled.  “Thelegitimate Medicare recipient is hurt— the legitimate business that’sdispensing this and serving patients is hurt, every taxpayer is hurt,and we need to come down on this with both feet,” said U.S. Secretaryof Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt.  Anotherofficial, putting it more bluntly, said, “The system is broken.”  Andreferring to the level of fraud, he added, “It’s an epidemic.”

False billing continues despite complaints
Oneof the patients dramatically affected by the widespread fraud is82-year-old Muriel Sherman. During the last three years, Shermanreceived dozens of statements from Medicare indicating that the systemwas billed for tens of thousands of dollars in medicine and medicalequipment in her name — care and equipment she never got and didn’tneed. It began after someone stole her Medicare patient identificationnumber. She suspects the theft occurred at a facility where she wentfor treatment.

Flippingthrough page after page of Medicare benefits statements, Shermaninsisted that none of the charges were real. “It’s all phony,” shesaid. Among other things, the bills indicate she is taking medicine forAIDS, a disease she doesn’t have. “The FBI says if I was getting thisamount of medicine, I’d be dead,” she said. On her behalf, Medicare wasalso billed for a wheelchair, artificial knees, ankles and an eye, plusother medicines for diabetes. “None of it is real.”

Sherman’sbiggest gripe is that her repeated complaints to Medicare were notacted upon quickly. “They don’t want to know you when you call on thetelephone,” said said.  She also complained that discussions with lawenforcement officials never resulted in the prosecution of any of thefraudulent billers. “For these people to do this and not be apprehendedis an absolute insult to me and to everyone else,” she exclaimed. 

Source/more:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22202073/

Ed:  Is CMS more concerned with encouraging “personal responsibility” for health care costs than with prosecuting criminals?  I think so…

People:  if you think Medicare fraud is being accomplished using your personal information, contact a lawyer who specializes in “qui tam” actions, pronto!  You’ll get up to 1/3 of the total amount recovered!