Medicare Millionaires

The Emperor was reading a report today about Medicare fraud. Apparently the amount of fraud in the system is believed to cost about $60 billion a year. It sounds like Robbing Hood's Merry Men are running circles around the sheriff. Except in this case, the money is not going to the poor. It is being used to buy luxury cars and diamond rings.

The Thin Skinned One promised to pay for his new Obamanite Care by stopping the fraud and waste in the Medicare system. One of his ideas was to automate the filing of claims. However, it appears the Robbing Hoods are using the automated feature to overwhelm the people approving the claims. There are so many claims the bureaucrats cannot take the time to verify their veracity. The criminals set up false offices, file the claims, receive the money, then move on before the feds can get figure out what is happening.

Of course, there is no real incentive for the Medicare bureaucrats to take the time to prevent or uncover the fraud. Losing $60 billion is no sweat to a non-profit government organization that draws more tax payer money each year regardless of how effectively it uses it. A real insurance company would never be able to allow a $60 billion loss each year.

The Emperor is certain, however, that expanding the governments role in the health industry will make all these fraud problems go away.