Over 10% Of Medicaid Funding Goes To Fraud

John Hinderaker, writing at Power Line Blog, asks "Fraud: More Than We Can Imagine?" He notes that the federal government spends $900 billion on Medicare each year, but Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. asserts that $100 billion is lost to fraud each year. 

The theft is incredibly brazen. And I suspect Kennedy’s $100 billion estimate may be low. In Minnesota, the authorities have estimated that at least one-half of the total spending on 14 Medicaid programs went to fraud. While our state government is uniquely incompetent, it may well be that other states approach those numbers. The fraud is probably less with regard to bills from doctors, clinics and hospitals, but there too, it is substantial, usually in the form of upcoding.    

But this is the key point, I believe:

At some point, one begins to wonder whether a central purpose of our government is to fund crime. If the purpose of an institution is what it does, supporting and encouraging criminals would seem to be an important aim of our government, both federal and state.    

Related:

• "Alturas Indian Rancheria members accuse leaders of misusing millions in federal and state funds"--New York Post. This is a "tribe" of only 5 members, which "has received more than $8 million in federal funding since 2013, according to USAspending.gov, the federal government’s spending database"; plus the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund Distribution, "which takes money from the bigger tribes and distributes a percentage to the smaller ones, has given the Alturas Indian Rancheria more than $26 million since 2005." And that is not all: "Factor in a gas station, casino, concrete company, moving truck company and cigarette plant that all operate as tribal [i.e., tax free] entities, and Alturas Indian Rancheria allegedly brings in millions every month, according to two members who are sounding the alarm."