A bizarre scheme to ferret out medical fraud

I was tempted to save this one until next week and use it on the first day of April.

But here’s the funny part: It’s no joke.

Amid all the political uproar over the proposed health care reform bill, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has offered a bizarre idea that’s actually getting serious attention.

Billions of dollars are lost to Medicare and Medicaid fraud each year. So to sniff out scams, Senator Coburn believes the government should train special undercover agents to pose as patients. The federal agents would go to doctors’ offices and hospitals where they would try to persuade health care workers to file false Medicare and Medicaid claims.

Senator Coburn’s “solution” implies that fraudulent acts are primarily instigated by scheming patients who lure unsuspecting doctors into their wicked con games. In fact, there are all sorts of Medicare and Medicaid frauds, including administrators who steal identity data, embezzling bookkeepers, etc.

And believe it or not, Senator Coburn happens to be an M.D.

But wait–it gets even more April-foolish: This half-baked idea is actually picking up bi-partisan support.

Of all the things Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on, this they CAN agree on?

I don’t know what they put in the water in Washington, but it seems to be causing serious neurological side effects.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Source:
“How Much Fraud and Abuse Is There in U.S. Health Care?” Uwe E. Reinhardt, New York Times. 3/5/10, economix.blogs.nytimes.com