Former U.S. Senator and Convention of States Senior Advisor Tom Coburn frequently notes the massive amounts of waste, fraud, and abuse within our government programs.
But a new report reveals that the fraud in the Medicaid programs runs even deeper than we previously thought.
According to watchdog groups, the healthcare program likely made around $60 billion in fraudulent payments between 2010 and 2015.
Previously, experts believed that number to be much lower. A recent audit of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that it directed $2.6 billion worth of taxpayer money toward fraudulent and/or mismanaged Medicaid claims in that five-year period. More than half – $1.6 billion – remains uncollected to cover the agency’s losses.
"The Medicaid program lacks program integrity and these major flaws hurt both taxpayers and the truly needy," Sam Adolphsen, vice president of Executive Affairs at the Foundation for Government Accountability, told Watchdog.org. "Unfortunately, a couple billion dollars in waste is just the tip of the iceberg. The fraud number is more like $60 billion a year, and most of that is caused by problems with the eligibility process, made worse by the explosion in enrollment thanks to Medicaid expansion."
"In a way, this is a good news, bad news story," Truth in Accounting’s Director of Research, Bill Bergman, also told Watchdog.org. "The good news is that they found the bad news. The bad news is that the dollar amount for the bad news is, indeed, a big number … But this ‘big number' pales in comparison to unfunded retirement benefits now facing the states, after accumulating for decades off the balance sheet."
For years we've been told that the federal government has our nation's finances under control. There might be a little wasted money, they say, but nothing to be concerned about.
But the American people know better. They know that the problems run much deeper than they appear, and they've decided to do something about it.
An Article V Convention of States can propose constitutional amendments that force Congress to be fiscally responsible. These amendments can include a mandate to balance the budget as well as tax caps.
With this complete package of amendments in place, our elected officials will have no choice but to cut the waste, prosecute the fraud, and get our fiscal house in order.
Sign the Convention of States Petition below to show your support!
