Mon, Jul 14, 2008 (2:07 a.m.)

We have all heard stories about dead people who received Social Security checks or voted in congressional elections. We can now add to that list deceased physicians whose “prescriptions” somehow were approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

It was widely reported last week that Medicare has paid as much as $92 million in fraudulent claims since 2000 to suppliers of home medical equipment such as walkers and wheelchairs. Nearly 500,000 phony prescriptions were submitted using the identification numbers of thousands of dead doctors.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations vows to get to the bottom of this situation. But it boggles the mind that such a massive scam could have passed unnoticed for so many years.

Medicare administrators must find a way to verify the identities of legitimate physicians so the government is not squandering taxpayer dollars. The administrators say they are now comparing Social Security death reports with the names of doctors used by Medicare.

They should go an extra step by enlisting the help of the medical boards in all 50 states to make sure all Medicare-approved physicians are still licensed to practice. The medical boards should also make sure that all their licensees have a pulse.

Crooked medical suppliers obviously discovered gaps in the system. Congress must close those gaps and deal with the scam artists accordingly, but it cannot let Medicare administrators off the hook.

Such an extensive rip-off is generally a sign that an agency has major quality control problems. The Senate subcommittee would be well advised to ensure that the deficiencies that led to the phony claims have not spilled over into other aspects of the Medicare program.