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March 10, 2010 in Nation/World
Obama adds fraud fight to reform sell
President Barack Obama gestures as he argues for health care reform at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa. He’ll speak on the same topic today in Missouri.
(Full-size photo)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Tuesday he’ll bring in high-tech bounty hunters to help root out health care fraud, grabbing a populist idea with bipartisan backing in his final push to overhaul the system.
The White House announcement came as Obama prepared to travel to Missouri today, taking his closing argument to the nation’s heartland. The trip will be his second public appearance this week to rally support and fire up nervous Democrats.
The White House released details of the anti-fraud plan hours after a fresh challenge to the administration from major business groups that unveiled a multimillion-dollar ad campaign arguing that under Obama’s plan “health care costs will go even higher, making a bad economy worse.”
The ad buy, costing between $4 million and $10 million, will start today on national cable TV outlets.
On Capitol Hill, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other senior administration officials met with House and Senate Democratic leaders, who have struggled to secure the votes for the stalled health care legislation.
Obama’s anti-fraud announcement was aimed directly at the political middle.
Waste and fraud are pervasive problems for Medicare and Medicaid, the giant government health insurance programs for seniors and low-income people. Improper payments – in the wrong amounts, to the wrong person or for the wrong reason – totaled an estimated $54 billion in 2009. They range from simple errors such as duplicate billing to elaborate schemes operated by fraudsters peddling everything from wheelchairs to hospice care.
The bounty hunters in this case would be private auditors armed with sophisticated computer programs to scan Medicare and Medicaid billing data for patterns of bogus claims. The auditors would get to keep part of any funds they recover for the government. The White House said a pilot program run by Medicare in California, New York and Texas recouped $900 million for taxpayers from 2005-2008.
The presidential memorandum Obama will sign today directs Cabinet secretaries and agency heads throughout the government to intensify their use of private auditors under current legal authority.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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liarsinnews on March 10 at 6:32 a.m.
That`s what we need is another bureaucracy. Maybe Obama wants to add more federal workers to decrease the number of the unemployed. Another reckless spending habit of his.
Ninch on March 10 at 7:03 a.m.
MORE government contracts and workers? And he comes up with this idea to save his precious Obamacare? So if Obamacare does not pass, then Obama will not fight fraud? So why did not Obama already begin his fraud fight for Medicare and Medicaid if there are $54 billion to be recovered? Obama is an idiot if he thinks this latest faux promise will change Americans’ minds about Obamacare.
P.S. How much power is Obama giving these “private” auditors to delve into patients “private” medical file? Will they be like bill collectors and bounty hunters if they get to keep the money? Where is the accountability for these “private” contractors? As typical of Obama’s programs and policies, this is not well thought out for all of the unintended consequences. In other words, a “memo” to Cabinet secretaries and agency heads is not good governance and pretty stupid leadership. A “memo” will not fight fraud, and if it did then why did he not write that memo over a year ago.?
horse_feathers on March 10 at 10:50 a.m.
For a so called smart guy Obama is soooo dumb.
It’s the economy, stupid.