A story reported by KYW notes that Congressman Patrick Murphy (D, 8th, PA) is pushing to have a Medicare Fraud provision included in any Health Care Reform bill. (Apparently only the current House bill includes it, although I’d like to see someone actually find it in that 2000 page mess.)
Murphy says scammers get reimbursement checks mailed to post office boxes and then use check cashing stores to launder the money, because many have only minimal verification and ID requirements. (Bucks Pol Pushes for Medicare Fraud Provision in Health Bill.)
Murphy says scammers take an estimated $60 billion a year from Medicare and Medicaid, (though he doesn’t say it is all by this technique.) Murphy’s proposal would require government programs to pay providers and suppliers using only direct, electronic deposits into bank accounts, or credit unions.
We commend Murphy for doing something to reduce Medicare fraud and abuse, instead of just talking about it the way the rest of Congress and the administration are doing.
But the question is, if this fraud is happening and Murphy’s proposal would fix the problem, why hasn’t this been taken care of long ago? How long has Murphy known about this loophole, and why hasn’t he–or anyone else in Congress–eliminated this loophole before now? What are they waiting for?
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Tags: Congressman Patrick Murphy, health care reform, Medicare Fraud
