On the recordJanuary 28, 2010
in 2009 the Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP programs accounted for over $800 billion of the $2.3 trillion spent on health care in the U.S. Together, these programs constitute around 35 percent of national health spending. With so much taxpayer money at stake, it is no surprise that all this spending brings crooks, scam artists and even organized crime out of the woodwork. Low estimates are that fraudsters steal $60 billion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs every year. As Federal health care spending continues to skyrocket, so will the dollars lost to fraud, waste and abuse. This is a crime against not only the taxpayer, but against each and every beneficiary who depends on these programs for their health care. The examples of fraud are all around us. In a 60 Minutes segment late last year, we saw a medical supply company that billed Medicare $2 million last July--despite being empty and having apparently no staff. One man interviewed said he was waking up every day making $20,000- $40,000. Every single day. He said it was like winning the lottery, and you and me and every taxpayer were footing the bill. He was running a fake medical supply company that didn't actually sell any medical equipment to anyone. He says he stole at least $20 million from Medicare. He said it was, ``real easy.'' This must change. I don't think Members on either side of the aisle dispute this.
