Medicare Fraud and "Obamacare"

Attached an interesting article by Jay Weaver titled "Feds arrest more than 100 Medicare fraud suspects in South Florida, nationwide" reporting that several days ago, the feds charged 107 suspects with submitting $452 million in false bills to Medicare in seven U.S. cities. In the Miami area, 59 of those defendants were accused of trying to steal $137 million from the taxpayer-funded healthcare program.As a result of stepped-up law enforcement Medicare’s expenditures for a variety of medical services in South Florida decreased by a half-billion dollars over the past year alone! Its also important to emphasize that these successful efforts to curb Medicare fraud are part and parcel of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The President has made a commitment to reduce Medicare fraud 50% by 2012. Therefore, the Affordable Care Act provides an additional $350 million over the next ten years to help fight fraud through the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account (HCFAC) from FY 2011 through 2020. The Act also allows these funds to support the hiring of new officials and agents that can help prevent and identify fraud. Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act directs the Sentencing Commission to increase the Federal sentencing guidelines for health care fraud offenses by 20-50% for crimes that involve more than $1,000,000 in losses. The law makes obstructing a fraud investigation a crime and makes it easier for the government to recapture any funds acquired through fraudulent practices. And the law makes it easier for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate potential fraud or wrongdoing at facilities like nursing homes. Those "Obamacare" opponents who rail against the law should be reminded that they have failed to provide an alternative option on how to save half-billion dollars over the past year! Yours Bernd