Tom Coburn: “there is $38 billion worth of fraud in Medicaid. We are on an unsustainable course as a nation. We have $74 trillion…”

“there is $38 billion worth of fraud in Medicaid. We are on an unsustainable course as a nation. We have $74 trillion worth of unfunded liabilities. When we talk about controlling spending and earmarks, we always hear it is a mandatory program. Finally, not all of what the administration has done do I absolutely agree with but on key points I do. These rules will make a difference. If we are interested in fraud, let's write the regulations to get out the fraud. That hasn't been the offer. All we are willing to do as a body is say to the administration you have ideas that will get rid of $42 billion worth of fraud over 5 years, but we don't like it because we are feeling pressure from the State Medicaid directors, when we know States game Medicaid. A great example: There is nothing in this to stop any Medicaid Program from taking a child from school to the doctor, but it does stop the 500-some-odd million dollars being spent on transporting schoolchildren back and forth to school who don't have a medical appointment. So what we have is a system that has been gamed. We have allowed it. Now the administration put something forward which we don't like and which we ought to negotiate with them to change, rather than saying you are not going to do any of it. The fact is the unfunded liabilities associated with the Medicaid Program are about $12 trillion. We are going to do something--just forget it.…”