need to add title here

$90 Billion Dollars a Year?

October 25, 2009 5:00 PM

The crime of Medicare fraud is bigger than the drug business in total volume.

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by rjcarvalho November 2, 2009 8:30 PM EST
My insurance company is just as lame. When I asked for a doctor to be investigated for fraud, March 2009, I recieved a gratefull response. They would investigate, BUT the information obtained would be confidential. Late October 2009, I inquired and learned that a request for records went out in July but no response yet. THAT is how well they investigated in seven months! This doctor performed surgery on a "rash" in a hospital surgery that cost over $10,000 to my insurance company. Fortyfive days later he claimed "The tumors are comming back!" You need surgery right away. A short time later he wanted to do a prostate biopsy. None of it were ever necessary.
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by sdh26234 November 2, 2009 5:46 AM EST
My comment goes as follows: America's love affair with Socialism/Communism and Imperialism, but in complete ignorance, is to America what termites are to a wooden structure. Yes, even Kruschev saw that in the 60's at the UN while pounding his shoe on his destk he said this: "America will accept Communism without knowing it". Of course he was laughed out of the country. How many Americans know that the present Nationald Debt now stands at over 53 trillion dollars and growing by leaps and bounds. It did grow under the Republicans as well as under the Democrats. So, America if you like this ride to hell, just keep doing the same stupid and idiotic stuff.
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by ronnieleestephens October 30, 2009 2:06 PM EDT
My question,who the hell is in charge ? We are the idiots we keep electing non performing people. If in my business life would have been as incompetent I would have not had any clients or business. We keep reading about these idiots, but as I said we must be bigger idiots ourselves. History has shown the government can't do anything right if it pertains to business. The IRS took over the Mustang Ranch and couldn't even sell booze and prostition and show a profit. What can I say no one is in charge and everyone passes the buck. Where the hell are the Harry Trumans of our time. I am stupified !!!!!
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by dag8686 October 27, 2009 2:37 PM EDT
I have a retail furniture store in Ohio.About 15 years ago I had a customer that wanted an adjustable hospital type bed. I thought he was ready to buy but didn`t come back to my store. I called him a few weeks later and he said he got one for free at a medical supply store in Columbus.He came in later and bought something and told me he got several things from this store.I compared prices and found out they charged Medicare almost triple for these items.We knew it was fraud but he would not report them because he got everything free.
I tried to report this scam to the Ohio Attorney Generals Office.
They would not listen to me because I didn`t receive anything from this company.Five or six years later the FBI closed this supplier and sent the guys to prison. I just wonder how many millions of taxpayer dollars they stole.
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by junski1111 October 27, 2009 12:16 PM EDT
It's absolutely a remarkable report. Also very astonishing and disturbing to even think that the goverment with all the rigid restrictions and strict guidelines that are set in place for other govermental progams, would lack the proper controls for was is problably the biggest scam in the history of the medical field. Needless to say, despite the shame and the embarassment that it will display in the face of the other nations. Maybe we need to return to some of the basic principles that seem to be forgotten or just common practices that would indicate that every govermental office be audited and hold accountable for mishandling the tax payers dollars. Somebody knew this was happening all along but instead choose to let it get out hand and now the rest of us have to pay for those avoidable actions. Time to restructure some dept. heads and accountability sessions need to start as of yesterday! When will it stop??
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by olupola October 26, 2009 9:37 PM EDT
most of the issues allayed to in this piece is old as CMS has taken appropriate steps to audit the providers which ended on Sept 30. by and large any company that need to have Medicare billing privilege need to be accredited and bonded as at Oct 1 & 5, 2009. This story would have been more effective in 2007-prior to the implementation of the rules to 2009 Medicare supplier standard. this piece should have seek to show what is current in this COST saving sector of medicare/medicaid.
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by xenon75 October 26, 2009 4:17 PM EDT
This is why our forefathers designed our government to be smaller federally and larger locally to prevent fraud, waste and corruption.

Somehow this got all turned around over the decades and needs to be changed back to the original intent. I shudder to even imagine the actual waste, fraud and corruption.

There is not accountability at all at this level and it is frightening to think what our politicians have in mind by passing all of these massive spending and government control bills.

It needs to be stopped. Our out of control government spending needs to be stopped and held accountable.
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by MichaelLockhart October 26, 2009 3:51 PM EDT
To Steve Croft & Sixty Minutes: I have been watching 60M for 20 years and this piece was the best ever. Great job. This shows how our government can't do anything right and the less they are involved in anything, the better. Here is a suggestion to fix this problem: Offer a reward to anyone reading their medicare report whom notices a possible fraud being committed under their name. Pay them $10,000 if information they provide leads to a conviction. You will have every senior citizen watching and reporting. This is a similar strategy to what is used the shopkeeper whom posts a sign at the cash register saying, "If we fail to give you receipt, the purchase is on us."
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by Kenneth-President October 26, 2009 3:18 PM EDT
As a legal operating Homecare Company owner this story proves that the problem is not with our industry but with the goverment oversight itself. My industry has been paying for their mistakes for too long through regulation that adds costs but will not stop the fruad. My industry has been proactive in offering sugestions to Medicare on how to stop the fraud but have it fall on deaf ears as the woman stated during her interveiw. This just prevents us from taking care of the patients that need us most. We are the least exspensive sector billing Medicare with the highest rate of return on patient care.
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by mitchsnv October 26, 2009 10:19 AM EDT
how can anyone (with any sense) have watched this segment and in good faith think that the federal goverment is capable of running more of the health care pie than this.... somewhat small segment??? you must live in fantasy land....???
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