Déjà Screwed
I swear, sometimes I think every freakin’ day is Groundhog Day when it comes to our Federal government. They simply don’t seem to learn a damn thing from past fiascos.
Well, at least the current Administration doesn’t.
Remember the Lifeline fiasco I wrote about the other day – that “free phone” program where the Federal government depended for years on unchecked self-certification to determine eligibility? Remember how well that worked out?
Wanna guess how the Federal government is going to determine whether people qualify for tax credits under the new Patently Phoney Patient Privacy and Absurd ‘Affordable’ Care Abomination Act next year? C’mon – take a guess.
But hey, I’m gonna be a hardass here. You only get one guess.
If you guessed “self-certification with no requirement for backup documentation or cross-checking” – AKA the “honor system” – give yourself a freaking gold star. ‘Cause that’s exactly how the Federal government plans to hand out PPACA-related tax credits next year.
Until last year, that’s the same method the Federal government used to determine eligibility for Lifeline phones. Based on early indications from imposing cross-checking and requiring annual re-certification, looks like that program had about a 41% fraud rate.
It’s also how the Federal government determines eligibility today for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). That program is estimated to lose 20-25% of its total annual outlays to fraud.
Ya know, I kinda think I’m seeing a pattern here. But maybe it’s just me.
Predictably, the FBI expects to see fraud related to this new tax credit – a LOT of fraud. They’re currently estimating we’ll see on the order of $20 billion in healthcare tax credit fraud next year. I think that might be in the ballpark – for the first year. Then it will skyrocket. And it’s possible that estimate could be way low for the first year, too.
Looks like it really is “Here we go again.” And remember: that’s yet another “bennie” to the US taxpayer, courtesy of the PPACA. So just grit your teeth and bend over.
Yeah, that’s courtesy of the PPACA, too.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime, Dumbass Bullshit, Health Care debate
In other words…”Fuck you and fiduciary responsibility, taxpayers. I won.”
Anyone wanna bet that B. Hussein 0bama & Co. will order the [In]Justice Department to police this program like they’ve enforced our Nation’s Borders?
And I thought I was the last practitioner of irony around here.
Who knew?
Unfucking believable…
There’s no way they could willingly be this stupid, can they?
I mean honestly, What could go wrong?
NHSparky: yeah, there is. For most of them, anyway.
Most of the libidiots actually believe that laws like this work. I’m guessing they also believe in unicorns; that the government can just decree exceptions to the laws of economics, physics, and thermodynamics; and that scientific breakthroughs will occur on command.
Hardcore Marxists had a name for these kind of folks: “useful idiots”. And God must love them, ’cause he made so many of them. For examples, see our old “friends” Joe and Insipid.
A minority of libidiots know better. But those don’t give a sh!t so long as they are spending OPM (other people’s money) to further their agenda and the collapse will come after they’ve left office, or passed on.
So billions of dollars of potential fraud is acceptable now?? Wow. Glad to hear that. Is it also acceptable for me to refuse to pay more taxes to support said fraud?? It is not?? Hmmmmm……….
I heard John Stossel on FNC report that Medicare loses appx $60B through fraud each year…apparently according to this 60 Minutes piece from 2010 its $90B if you tack on Medicade fraud. Sh*it is mindblowing…scammers have figured out there are mountains of money to be had.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6837797n
I heard Osama say that if he were reelected, he would be able to prosecute people for Medicare fraud.
Apparently it’s not legal for a first term president to do something that controversial.
There have been so many reports by ABC since the 1990s on Medicare and Medicaid fraud that this isn’t really a surprise.
It’s just a continuing story. Only the numbers have changed.
Just out of curiosity, Hondo, if the VA were allowed to charge Medicare for non-service related health care for vets who are seniors, would that lower Medicare fraud enough to make a difference?
The only alternative to self-certification is to presume that govt. (unionized) bureaucrats exist that are capable of analyzing financial documents. News flash: they are not (however, if you are a Tea Party group, they will waste years “anal”ysing in general). Heck, they can’t even operate a website! Did you see Larry Summers blaming that debacle on “brain drain”? As a former contractor, I get amused frequently at the waste fraud and abuse that contracting companies get away with, while under the direct oversight of “contract administrators” and etc. (i.e. government bureaucrats) The only thing that keeps me going is my firm belief in the incompetence of government….. IT HAS A LOGICAL END.
Full disclosure: I am not a contractor anymore.
41% fraud rate? And we spent how much on this welfare-smartphone goatfuck? And the current presidential abomina–ahem, *administration* is okay with this, because it helps ensure that the ever-growing number of able-bodied but lazy sacks of sh–excuse me, *welfare recipients* continue to vote for neo-Marxist–sorry, *progessive* Democrats to keep that gravy train a-flowin’. Far be it from me to cast aspersions on them that I disagree with, but this lends an awful lot of credence to the idea that a huge chunk of the Democrat voter base is made up of unrepentant criminals.
Well, guess what? I’m NOT okay with it! Who the hell am I? Why does it matter what I think? Because I’m one of the “makers” who works their ass off to fund this chickenshit the takers take advantage of. My money pays for this shit. I PAY FOR THIS SHIT! And if I’m paying for something, I don’t accept 41% of it–damn near half–being STOLEN!
I practice what I preach here. I’m a government employee, taxes pay my salary (on which I have to turn right around and pay income taxes to the very same people who just payed me). And I bust my ass to make sure the taxpayers get better than what they pay for (because my salary ain’t exactly huge). That’s right, not what they pay for, BETTER than what they pay for. Why better, you ask? Don’t you like free-market capitalism? I do, but the government is not a marketplace. The taxpayers don’t get to take their business elsewhere, or believe me, we ALL would. Therefore it is the responsibility and moral obligation of the government at all levels to give the taxpaying customer better than what they pay for. Sadly, as we see here yet again, the majority of those who work for/in the government, at least at a decision-making level just don’t get it or even give a rat’s ass. They got their perks, they got their power, and all they care about is keeping and expanding both.
How these shitbags look themselves in a mirror is beyond me.
That Fucking Piece of Shit!
Ex-PH2: probably not. Having the VA reimburse Medicare (although it would probably go the other way – I’m pretty sure DoD does that now re: TRICARE and Medicare) would only move money between two different government agencies, plus add the administrative expense of doing so/accounting for same. If it was fraud before, it would still be fraud. The only thing that would change would be who was eventually getting stuck with the bill for the fraud.
Reducing the fraud would require identifying and burning the folks/institutions that are perpetrating the fraud. For the VA, tightening up eligibility and/or documentation requirements would IMO be a good start. IMO entirely too many VA determinations are made based on “self-provided” and unverified documentation, or are based on good docs coupled with outright lies told to a compliant doctor or adjudicator.
— break —
GDContractor: not entirely. The government has some good – and some worthless – auditors/contract administrators/whatever, just like private industry has both good and not-so-good people doing those roles. And neither ever will have enough bodies to fully audit everything.
However, you can set up a system that’s at least somewhat hard to beat and/or which has cross-checks. The IRS does this with income taxes. Tax withholding and income information is reported by employers to the IRS. The taxpayer is required to report that same info separately – with hardcopy documentation backing up the submission, at least if you file your taxes manually. If the two don’t match, that’s a huge red flag. And it’s at least theoretically easy to spot-check.
People still beat the system in some ways (cash-only jobs, underreporting tips, etc . . . . ), but it’s harder than if there were no controls.
If the IRS did income taxes fully on the honor system, employers would report nothing to the IRS and the taxpayer would indicate, without providing any supporting documentation when they file, what they earned and what was withheld. There’s a damn good – and obvious – reason they don’t do that.
What they’re doing here is nonsensical. It’s literally an invitation for fraud.
No, it’s Medicare pays VA, not VA paying Medicare. I’d think it could reduce some fraud, wouldn’t it? If you’re Medicare eligible but you don’t have something Medicare Advantage through BC/BS, and you don’t have any other way to pay for non-service connedted major medical, why wouldn’t it cut some Medicare fraud? I’m not saying make it a have-to, but offer that choice.
Hondo, I agree there are exceptions. Speaking of the IRS, heard a news story yesterday about how much they have sent out in fraudulent refund checks totaling Billions….one case over over 600 checks being sent to the same address in Lithuania. One would think a preventative measure could be engineered, ya think? For further proof at gross incompetence, look at the security clearance vetting of Snowden, et al. I worked with guys that I could not believe had clearances. I think the contractors doing the vetting are self certifying that they are doing the vetting.
To The Other Whitey, good on ya. I wish you well and I appreciate knowing there is at least one of you. Thank you.
GDContractor: not saying the IRS is perfect, amigo. Lord knows they have their share of fools and tools as well. And some of their policies/practices are indeed “brain dead” – as the Lithuanian address example you bring up indicates.
Still, some of their policies/procedures do have a degree of built-in cross-checking and separation of function. Any good system does. No one in their right mind designs a system that deals with money without cross-checking and separation of functions, whether automated or manual. Doing so is an invitation to be ripped off.
That’s what baffles me here. The IRS knows that they’re defrauded routinely; some of that is unavoidable. But setting up a tax credit that is paid based on information provided under the “honor principle” and has no cross-checking or documentation requirements is just STUPID.
Ex-PH2: first, I don’t think it would ever end up with the VA receiving anything from Medicare. I’m almost positive that DoD pays Medicare in the event of dual eligibility for Medicare and TRICARE (there is indeed a DoD reimbursement to Medicare line in DoD’s budget). If such a setup were mandated/negotiated between the VA and Medicare, VA would almost certainly be the recipient of the money vice the VA. Remember: Medicare is a form of “insurance” vice a benefit (yeah, right) – and Medicare has far more political clout. They’ll end up being the recipient of any extra $$$.
Secondly, any type of cross-reimbursement would by definition be limited to cases of bona fide dual eligibility. So any regardless of which way the funds transfer went, reimbursements would be either (1) a case of shifting funds from one agency to another to pay for legitimate service, or (2) a shift of funds from one agency to another to pay for something that was already fraud. Either way, no reduction in fraud – just a shift of costs between agencies.
In such cases fraud only occurs when the service is not authorized by either Medicare or VA health care. If it’s authorized by either, it’s by definition not fraud – fraud implies getting something unlawfully. At worst it’s a case of someone not knowing which provider to use. At best, it’s a case of a shift of funds between agencies.
I just don’t see any way that cross-reimbursal in any way could reduce fraud. Only stopping people from getting unauthorized services or $$$$ would reduce overall fraud.
Be happy to reconsider if you have a specific example that argues otherwise.