Feds overlooked Medicare scam warnings, The AP reports

Nov 16 2009

The Associated Press reports that the Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services "received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors (on suspected Medicare fraud) over three years during the Bush and Obama administrations but didn't respond to half of them, even after repeated letters." The news story was based on records received from Sen. Chuck Grassley's office. "A July 2008 warning said organized crime had infiltrated the system and was costing more than $1 million dollars for each phony Medicare provider license the crooks obtained. The letter got no response, Grassley said."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said CMS usually responds promptly to fraud warnings, but that she was not satisfied that some fraud alerts were getting a sufficient response. "Grassley wants the agency to respond to future fraud warnings within two months and Sebelius agreed" (Kennedy, 11/13).