Fraud crackdown is Medicare solution

Patricia van Betten, Blue Diamond

Friday, Dec. 3, 2010 | 2:03 a.m.

Regarding the story in Thursday’s Las Vegas Sun, “On Medicare? Try the next office”:

The story once again addresses doctors who threaten to drop Medicare patients because of a proposed reimbursement cut by Congress. I oppose the cut and believe the reimbursement rates to doctors need to be increased, not decreased. What will it take for Congress to realize that the solution is staring it in the face?

Medicare fraud costs taxpayers at least $60 billion a year. Congress must make it a priority to end it. People who deliberately scheme to cheat the Medicare program need to be found and severely punished. This is being done with vigor by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, it is a priority for the Obama administration, and it needs to be a high-profile congressional focus as well.

In 2008, Medicare and Medicaid spending reached at least $818 billion, and the loss to fraud of that amount that year was estimated as high as $100 billion. One hundred billion dollars could go a long way to paying fair compensation to ethical providers, wouldn’t you agree?

We all need to be alert to Medicare scams — consumers and providers alike — to report those whose abuse of the system could easily destroy a well-intentioned and much-needed health care program.

The writer is a registered nurse.