Tom Harkin: “for many years, I have been working hard to identify and combat fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare Program.…”

“for many years, I have been working hard to identify and combat fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare Program. Starting in 1990, when I took over as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds and has jurisdiction over the administrative funding of Medicare, I began holding hearings, and I held several hearings through those years, released report after report, documenting the unnecessary losses to the Medicare Program. These losses are truly staggering. I have taken the floor many times over the last several years to document this for other Senators. The General Accounting Office estimates that up to 10 percent of Medicare payments could be lost to fraud, waste, and abuse. That adds up to about $18 billion a year. The HHS inspector general just concluded a comprehensive audit of Medicare claims paid last year. It is the most comprehensive review of claims ever made. They found that up to $23 billion of those payments, or about 14 percent, should not have been paid. This is last year, 1 year. The HHS inspector general said that up to $23 billion should not have been paid. So the problem may even be worse than we originally thought. There are many components to this problem. Mr. President, if you can dream up a scam or a ripoff, it has probably already been tried in Medicare. We have uncovered losses due to out-and-out fraud--billing for services that weren't administered, providers paying and receiving kickbacks, double billing.…”