And so am I. When I read that "the government overpaid hospitals, doctors and other health care providers last year by $23 billion" and that "the books and records of the medicare agency and its contractors were in such disarray that they could not be thoroughly audited", I was mentally nauseated! It was also reported by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, June Gibbs Brown, that "there was no way to tell how much of the overpayment resulted from fraud." Her report also noted that the government had no way to prevent or detect improper payments.

Uncle Sam's diagnosis of his own illness, or at least some of the symptoms, may well tell us to get more tests run before we decide on a cure or treatment. Perhaps we ought to find out how he got so sick.

One of the first questions would naturally be: How long has he had this problem? Medicare has been with us for how many years? When did this sickness begin? The article I read said, "this was the first comprehensive audit of Medicare". Now, since the records of both Medicare and its contractors could not be thoroughly audited, this condition may have existed since the beginning! And if the records are so bad, is the $23 billion a good figure or could it be worse? Since we are half way through 1997, have we lost another $12 billion?

Lets try another question. Is this a virus? Is it contagious? Is this the way all government agencies work? I thought we were worried about the Military/Industrial threat. Could there be a Health Care/Politician coalition? Could both parties be bought by PAC war chests of $35 billion? Could Medicare laws have been written to allow such abuse, misuse, fraud and confusion? Could they have been so poorly drafted that the loopholes invited even good people to drive through? Could they have been so complicated that even good people could not have followed the rules? Maybe a legal test is in order. Did the politicians and the Health Care Pac's know, or should have known, they were sponsoring legislation that would result in such chaos?

Maybe the illness is aggravated by those who want the Medicare program to fail or falter so they can cripple it. It is, after all, one huge part of our annual budget. The report said the $23 billion was 14% of the amount spent last year. That comes to $164 billion, $285 million, $710 thousand on my calculator. Give or take a few billion as the big thinkers consider it.

Folks, this disease calls for outside consultants! Does anyone know how to find out who are the top 250 Health Care PAC contributors to both parties? And how much each contributed each year for the past 15 years? Could we get a list of the top 250 highest paid health care providers for the past 15 years and how much were they paid each year? What is the Statute of Limitations on Medicare fraud, misuse and abuse? Is it possible to use the Racketeering Laws on violators? Who were the primary Medicare legislative sponsors/writers for the past 15 years?

Lastly, where were, and are, the watch dogs of the elderly? The Media? The past few days have been typical. A man was killed in Miami and he had more press than this article. Is it because we all feel helpless? I heard on the television that whistle blowers can receive 25% of the amount recovered for Medicare malpractice. That beats all the treasure in all the ships ever sunk in all the oceans. Any takers?

Uncle Sam is very, very, sick. Let us pray it is not terminal.

Jack L. Drain
733 Hunters Glen Ct
Bedford, Texas 76021
(817) 268-5725 home
(817) 428-1111 ext 112 work
Email: jdrain@flash.net