Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Fraud and Abuse

We are forever promised that holders of high office will cut budgets by going after waste, fraud and abuse.  Recently we heard about members of the Soviet diplomatic corps cheating the US Medicaid program.  The scam was repeated by so many over so many years that it was apparently considered one of the perks of office.  Lie about household income; qualify for Medicaid, receive pre-natal care and hospital delivery, and then blend back into the New York City glitter of shops and high living.  Here's the story from the New York Times.  Don't think the Russians are the only foreign nationals who know how to defraud Medicaid with this abuse.  Ask those you know in the immigrant community.  They know who else has babies this way.  How does Medicaid miss these cheats?  This is not something new.  Each successful theft from the United States tax payer emboldens the next perpetrator.  If I had heard about this long before the Russian scandal broke, why doesn't Medicaid know?  Are we afraid of profiling?  Are we uneasy about careful scrutiny of applicants with foreign passports?  Too bad.  There are plenty of needy people in our Medicaid programs who could use the money.

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