Medicare fraud rarely prosecuted

In 1973, I graduated with a degree in accounting. My first job interview came at one of the largest hospitals in Chicago, where I was told that my job would be “to find ways to hide money so that they could receive larger reimbursements from Medicare.” I decided not to take that job.

So I interviewed at another hospital that was much smaller and was owned by a group of doctors, where I was told that my job would be “to find ways to hide money so that they could receive larger reimbursements from Medicare.” I decided not to take that job as well. I suppose they went to the same Medicare reimbursement seminar.

Looking back at that sample of two, it would seem that Medicare fraud in the hospital industry is widespread and is ignored by the government. I have seen few, material, Medicare fraud cases coming from hospitals. According to a Sarasota newspaper in 2013, “55 hospitals in 21 states (were) ordered to pay a total of $34 million in Medicare fraud.” $34 million is 0.068 percent of the Medicare industry’s reimbursements of $50 billion a year.

Credit card companies, using computer algorithms, are highly effective catching theft at the time of the transaction or shortly thereafter because they find it profitable. The government is using your money, so there is no reason to deter fraud. Your monetary loss is their political gain. As Deep Throat said, “Follow the money.”

Hans Kasper

Bothell

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