Your Tax Dollars at Work. Not!
A report released September 30 by the General Accountability Office (GAO) (requires Adobe) found “Medicaid fraud (of) more than $63 million in 5 states alone,” CNSNews.com reported today. The news service said GAO “also found widespread doctor-shopping by Medicaid recipients.” Additional specifics reported by CNSNews.com:
“A California man took on the name of a dead person to receive taxpayer-funded health care for more than three years, charging $200,000 to the Medicaid system, including $2,870 to buy controlled substances under an assumed identity.
“A Houston-area physician’s assistant kept on signing the name of the doctor who once employed her after that doctor had died. The prescriptions, many of which were also covered by Medicaid, were also for prescription pain killers.
“More than 1,800 prescriptions were filled for people who are dead and another 1,200 prescriptions were written with the signatures of deceased doctors, according to an investigation of five states by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). And those were only two of the startling findings in a report that discovered $63.2 million in waste in five states alone.”
Trying to put a twist on the GAO report, ABC News wrote:
“That could be good news for President Obama, who argues that a massive expansion of health care coverage can be funded by squeezing waste out of the current system. But as Obama continues to press for a government-run health insurance plan, the GAO report also reveals shortcomings in how the government manages Medicaid.”
Reporting on the same GAO report, Fox News pointed out, “Medicaid also paid $2.3 million to 65 health care providers and pharmacies, even though they are barred from receiving federal funds.”
Growl at Virginia's two senators and Arlington's representative in Congress, either calling or using their contact webforms:
- Senator Jim Webb (D) -- write to him or call (202) 224-4024
- Senator Mark Warner (D) -- write to him or call (202) 224-2023
- Representative Jim Moran (D) -- write to him or call (202) 225-4376