Report Says Eliminating Waste In Health Care Would Pay For Reforms

By Uncle Dave Monday October 26, 2009

Eliminating waste is eliminating profit for someone. And eliminating profit is unAmerican. So we should be encouraging waste such as continuing with for-profit insurance companies whose profits increase the cost we pay for health care instead of ‘public option’ financing. Right?

Also, if eliminating waste pays for the health care system Obama wants, then by implication if additional fed money is added to the equation, we could have a Cadillac system for everyone instead of a Chevy. Or is all this just accounting smoke and mirrors?

The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday.

The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $505 billion and $850 billion every year, the report from Robert Kelley, vice president of healthcare analytics at Thomson Reuters, found.
[…]
One example — a paper-based system that discourages sharing of medical records accounts for 6 percent of annual overspending. […] “The average U.S. hospital spends one-quarter of its budget on billing and administration, nearly twice the average in Canada,” reads the report, citing dozens of other research papers.

“American physicians spend nearly eight hours per week on paperwork and employ 1.66 clerical workers per doctor, far more than in Canada,” it says, quoting a 2003 New England Journal of Medicine paper by Harvard University researcher Dr. Steffie Woolhandler.

42 Comments

Mr. Fusion says:

10/27/2009 at 6:41 am

#34, Bobbo,

WASHINGTON – Fifty-three people have been indicted for schemes to submit more than $50 million in false Medicare claims in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Detroit, Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and FBI Director Robert Mueller announced today. The Strike Force in Detroit is the third phase of a targeted criminal, civil and administrative effort against individuals and health care companies that fraudulently bill the Medicare program.

While the indictments were returned by a grand jury in Detroit, individuals were arrested today in Detroit, Miami and Denver as a result of phase three operations of the Strike Force. The joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force is a multi-agency team of federal, state and local investigators designed to combat Medicare fraud through the use of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing.
Mr. Fusion says:

10/27/2009 at 6:43 am

Bobbo,

A program to educate seniors about fraud in government-run health programs has saved taxpayers $100 million during the last 12 years, according to the Health and Human Services Department.

HHS reviews of the SMP (formerly Senior Medicare Patrol) Projects, including self-reported information on funds recovered to Medicare and Medicaid programs, turned up the savings. The Administration on Aging, an agency within HHS, runs the program, which relies on volunteers.

“The strongest defense against crime is not law enforcement, it is informed citizens,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, at an AoA-sponsored conference in Washington on Tuesday during a keynote address to program volunteer coordinators and trainers.
Mr. Fusion says:

10/27/2009 at 6:46 am

Bobbo,

In 1997, the federal government dedicated $100 million to federal law enforcement to combat Medicare fraud. That money pays over 400 FBI agents who investigate Medicare fraud claims. In 2007, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice created the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Miami, Florida.[7] This group of anti-fraud agents has been duplicated in other cities where Medicare fraud is widespread. In Miami alone, over two dozen agents from various federal agencies investigate solely Medicare fraud. In 2009, FBI Director Robert Mueller stated that the FBI has 2,400 open health care fraud investigations.[8]

Defendants convicted of Medicare fraud face stiff penalties according to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The sentence depends on the amount of the fraud. Defendants can expect to face substantial prison time, deportation (if not a US citizen), fines, and restitution.
Mr. Fusion says:

10/27/2009 at 6:56 am

Bobbo,

False bill for 3 months and leave for South America with a few million in a suitcase.

You forget that people are:

1) greedy and have a very difficult time leaving a cash cow,

and

2) rarely think they will be caught.

Yes, fraud happens. 60 Minutes seemed to overlook the point that crime happens in all facets of life. Something the size of Medicare, with all its branches and divisions, with a $350 Billion budget, using an honor system, does have people taking advantage of it. The government knows. The FBI knows. The individual States know. The providers know.

And when they are caught, they go to jail. A very difficult job would be to compare Medicare fraud with general fraud in the private sector to see how well each are detected and prosecuted.
MikeN says:

10/27/2009 at 7:24 am

>Fifth, too much of the health care burden is being placed upon Family Physicians. Many, if not most, cases could be seen by a less trained professional such as a Practical Nurse. A PN

We agree on something. How about we have lesser levels of medical licensing, as they do in some other countries? Or maybe eliminate licensing entirely?
Mr. Fusion says:

10/27/2009 at 10:18 am

#41, Lyin’ Mike,

Reducing or removing licensing would only end up hurting patients. Currently every health care practitioner must be licensed. This ensures a level of competency.

PNs receive post graduate degrees in medicine. They may treat and prescribe certain drugs but have to work under the supervision of a physician. As Family medicine is becoming a less attractive specialty, PNs could adequately fill this gap.

Allowing anyone, such as a witch doctor, to practice medicine would truly kill any quality control.