A column in the current New England Journal of Medicine raises again the prospect that deterring fraud and abuse might provide substantial health care savings. The article cites $60 billion as a conservative amount being wasted through fraud and abuse. The Bush administration had asked for additional resources to combat fraud, but Congress would not provide this funding. The current administration is similarly seeking more money to support antifraud programs. Medicare and Medicaid have either been particular targets of the defrauders or they have done a worse job than the private sector at rooting out fraud. For those who support a public insurance plan, it is worth noting that Medicare and Medicaid have a very poor history of innovation not only in this area, but in encouraging wellness and more appropriate care delivery by providers. In any event, the payback from enhanced antifraud programs is so great that it is hard to imagine why all needed resources aren’t devoted to the effort.
Fraud and Abuse–Are We Doing Enough to Stop It?
No Comments
✅ Subscribe via Email
About this Blog
Healthy Skeptic Podcast
Research
MedPAC 2019 Report to Congress
June 18, 2019
Headlines
Tags
Access
ACO
Care Management
Chronic Disease
Comparative Effectiveness
Consumer Directed Health
Consumers
Devices
Disease Management
Drugs
EHRs
Elder Care
End-of-Life Care
FDA
Financings
Genomics
Government
Health Care Costs
Health Care Quality
Health Care Reform
Health Insurance
Health Insurance Exchange
HIT
HomeCare
Hospital
Hospital Readmissions
Legislation
M&A
Malpractice
Meaningful Use
Medicaid
Medical Care
Medicare
Medicare Advantage
Mobile
Pay For Performance
Pharmaceutical
Physicians
Providers
Regulation
Repealing Reform
Telehealth
Telemedicine
Wellness and Prevention
Workplace
Related Posts
Commentary
March 24, 2023
The CDC Is a Font of Methodological and Statistical Error
Several times in the last three years I and others have pointed out serious flaws…
Commentary
March 24, 2023
A Couple of Health Care Notes
A couple of pieces of health care research focus on high health care spending and…
Commentary
March 21, 2023
Minnesota’s New Energy Insanity, Part 7
Minnesota is a particularly poor place to rely on solar power, but other states aren't…