And now it begins - Obamacare a very slow payer.

[ginwilly]

Well the administration is investigating fraud and prosecuting at record levels

Do you have a problem with that?
Apparently you do. Becuase a lot of the "cuts" are based on ending fraud

Oh no, I'm pleased with the effort to curtail fraud. I'm just not convinced they are telling the truth (shocker, I base this assumption on track record).
Medicare fraud outrunning enforcement efforts

Official: agency failed to investigate 1,200 complaints due to staff shortages, and more cuts coming
The budget crunch surfaced during questioning at a June 24 hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The hearing was called to examine prescription drug abuse in Medicare.
Gary Cantrell, Deputy Inspector General for the OIG Office of Investigations, said at the hearing that his unit “is shrinking” even as the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs grow in size and complexity. “We’re set to lose roughly 400 bodies out of a total of 1,800 at our peak in 2012. That’s really limiting our ability to expand our oversight in some of these areas,” he said.
Stuart Wright, Deputy Inspector General for the OIG Office of Evaluations and Inspections, added that 200 of those staffers will have departed by the end of this year and 200 more are out the door by the end of 2015.
Federal agencies employ inspectors general who work independently to ferret out fraud and abuse. The HHS unit has three branches that examine payment issues and investigate complaints of criminal wrongdoing lodged by whistleblowers and the public. Cantrell said that the HHS unit won’t be able to act on many complaints it logs in.
“We’re operating with a reduced budget in the face of the growing program. And just last year alone, our office closed down 1,200 complaints due to lack of resources. Those are complaints that came through the door that we didn’t have the resources to investigate further to determine whether it was a viable criminal case or not.”




http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/01/12909/medicare-fraud-outrunning-enforcement-efforts



I say it again, using Cheesy logic. Let's cut the shit out of every government program. No more welfare abuse would be great for this country. Imagine how much fraud we'd prevent by cutting the budget in half.

 

[ChesusRice]

[h=3]Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announce record-breaking recoveries resulting from joint efforts to combat health care fraud[/h]

Government Teams Recovered $4.2 Billion in FY 2012​

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report showing that for every dollar spent on health care-related fraud and abuse investigations in the last three years, the government recovered $7.90. This is the highest three-year average return on investment in the 16-year history of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse (HCFAC) Program.http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2013pres/02/20130211a.html

 

[ginwilly]

Well, if Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius says it, it must be true. I'm sure they have no agenda and their track record for telling the truth is exemplary

Your article is from HHS.gov, the propaganda machine. Mine is from a different government platform that actually does the investigations and interviews with an oversight committee and more recent

Cheesy, I firmly believe Obama wants to cut fraud and abuse out of the system. I'm not saying he isn't trying. What I'm saying is the efforts to do so have nothing to do with the 700B in cuts to medicare that you claim never happened.

Obama and his staff have a track record of making outrageous claims (this post created or saved 4 million jobs), you believe whatever he claims, I am skeptical of whatever he claims based on track record and common sense.

 

[ChesusRice]

Well, if Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius says it, it must be true. I'm sure they have no agenda and their track record for telling the truth is exemplary

Your article is from HHS.gov, the propaganda machine. Mine is from a different government platform that actually does the investigations and interviews with an oversight committee and more recent

Cheesy, I firmly believe Obama wants to cut fraud and abuse out of the system. I'm not saying he isn't trying. What I'm saying is the efforts to do so have nothing to do with the 700B in cuts to medicare that you claim never happened.

fight against health care fraud,” said Secretary Sebelius. “This fight against fraud strengthens the integrity of our health care programs and helps us fulfill our commitment to our seniors.”About $4.2 billion stolen or otherwise improperly obtained from federal health care programs was recovered and returned to the Medicare Trust Funds, the Treasury and others in FY 2012. This is an unprecedented achievement for the HCFAC Program, a joint Justice Department and HHS effort to coordinate federal, state and local law enforcement activities to fight health care fraud and abuse.
The administration is also using tools authorized by the Affordable Care Act to fight fraud, including enhanced screenings and enrollment requirements, increased data sharing across the government, expanded recovery efforts for overpayments and greater oversight of private insurance abuses.
Since 2009, the Justice Department and HHS have improved their coordination through HEAT and increased the number of Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams to nine. The Justice Department’s enforcement of the civil False Claims Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act have produced similar record-breaking results. These combined efforts coordinated under HEAT have expanded local partnerships and helped educate Medicare beneficiaries about how to protect themselves against fraud. In FY 2012, the two departments continued their series of regional fraud prevention summits, and the Justice Department hosted a training conference for federal prosecutors, FBI agents, HHS Office of Inspector General agents and others.
The strike force teams use advanced data analysis techniques to identify high-billing levels in health care fraud hot spots so that interagency teams can target emerging or migrating schemes as well as with chronic fraud by criminals masquerading as health care providers or suppliers. In July, Attorney General Holder and Secretary Sebelius announced the launch of a ground-breaking partnership among the federal government, state officials, leading private health insurance organizations and other health care anti-fraud groups to share information and best practices to improve detection of and prevent payments to scams that cut across public and private payers.
In FY 2012, the Justice Department opened 1,131 new criminal health care fraud investigations involving 2,148 potential defendants, and a total of 826 defendants were convicted of health care fraud-related crimes during the year. The department also opened 885 new civil investigations.

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2013pres/02/20130211a.html

Read your own article. You are comparing apples to oranges.
The investigations your articles mention is Prescription drug abuse.

 

[ginwilly]

Again, you are citing Sebelius.

From my oranges article.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General is set to lose a total of 400 staffers that are deployed nationwide as a primary defense against health care fraud and abuse. Though agency officials have yet to decide which investigations will be shelved as staff dwindles, the existing staff is already stretched so thin that the agency has failed to act on 1,200 complaints over the past year alleging wrongdoing — and expects that number to rise. The OIG began shedding staff at the beginning of the year.

Sorry man, I'm just being realistic based on what i see going on in the health care world. While most of the workers are ethical people, I can't say the same for the hospital administrations that have jobs dependent on reimbursement. I can document the same treatment in a variety of different ways that all look the same, but reimburse at different rates. Which documentation do you think would be encouraged, the least reimbursement or the most? There are very gray areas of fraud that are on the rise because of decreased fee schedules.

 

[ChesusRice]

Again, you are citing Sebelius.

From my oranges article.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General is set to lose a total of 400 staffers that are deployed nationwide as a primary defense against health care fraud and abuse. Though agency officials have yet to decide which investigations will be shelved as staff dwindles, the existing staff is already stretched so thin that the agency has failed to act on 1,200 complaints over the past year alleging wrongdoing — and expects that number to rise. The OIG began shedding staff at the beginning of the year.

First paragraph

Oh no, I'm pleased with the effort to curtail fraud. I'm just not convinced they are telling the truth (shocker, I base this assumption on track record).
Medicare fraud outrunning enforcement efforts

Official: agency failed to investigate 1,200 complaints due to staff shortages, and more cuts coming
The budget crunch surfaced during questioning at a June 24 hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The hearing was called to examine prescription drug abuse in Medicare.
Gary Cantrell, Deputy Inspector General for the OIG Office of Investigations, said at the hearing that his unit “is shrinking” even as the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs grow in size and complexity. “We’re set to lose roughly 400 bodies out of a total of 1,800 at our peak in 2012. That’s really limiting our ability to expand our oversight in some of these areas,” he said.http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/01/12909/medicare-fraud-outrunning-enforcement-efforts.

So now that we are on this strawman

Can you point to any benefits or services that have been cut for Medicare Recipients?
Are you still bemoaning the "cuts" in Medicare in lieu of the fact that no services or benefits for Medicare recipients have been cut?

 

[ginwilly]

Can you point to any benefits or services that have been cut for Medicare Recipients?
Are you still bemoaning the "cuts" in Medicare in lieu of the fact that no services or benefits for Medicare recipients have been cut?

I don't know what you are looking for man. Does the fact that some doctors are no longer taking new medicare patients count? Does the fact the medicare patients are being dropped from home health or ancillary services due to decreased fee schedules count? Does the fact that consultation is no longer paid for since the passage of the bill when consults were a mainstay since it's inception? IC10 comes out next year, we'll find even more services that are no longer available. I have a feeling you'll justify, then ignore this fact.

I give Obama credit for amping up the efforts to curtail fraud, that's not the subject or the point. The claim that you are making that the 700B in cuts was "cutting out fraud" is the ridiculous point I'm bashing. I have no doubt he wants to stop fraud in medicine, I just don't believe he has a magic wand.

 

[ginwilly]

Cheesy, length of stay is tracked for medicare patients. Reimbursements as a whole are determined by meeting LOS (length of stay) measures. Medicare patients are out of hospitals and sent home quicker than even the uninsured because of these measures. I don't expect you to know the inside working of the industry because you are a machinist, I do however, expect you to think about things in a logical manner instead of believing everything you are told by your hero.

I'm pleased that you are finally able to admit that there actually is a 700B cut in O'care, that one took awhile to convince you of this in spite of the mountain of evidence. Now your stance is that the cuts are not actually cuts to anything but fraud. I wish you would back away and study the situation analytically. I know you are capable of analytical thinking or you couldn't do the work you do.

 

[ginwilly]

You dont know jack shit you condescending racist a-hole

You have yet to point to cuts in Benefits or Services for Medicare Beneficiarys

you win

The fact that consults are no longer paid for is not really a service that's been cut.

(we must be the only two in this section this early. I'm leaving you with it to help a neighbor unload his U-haul, I need a break from this subject anyway, it's like typing in quicksand)

Have a good day man, you can insult me later when you have nothing else.

 

[ChesusRice]

you win

The fact that consults are no longer paid for is not really a service that's been cut.

(we must be the only two in this section this early. I'm leaving you with it to help a neighbor unload his U-haul, I need a break from this subject anyway, it's like typing in quicksand)

Have a good day man, you can insult me later when you have nothing else.

I have to go to dog training
Watch the steps into the double wides when you are moving

 

[ginwilly]

I have to go to dog training
Watch the steps into the double wides when you are moving

Ya know, I have a decent lake house surrounded by a national forest. But if it was a double wide why is that bad? I would rather live in a double wide that I owned than an apartment any day. My house is only 2100 sq ft. I've seen 3200 sq ft double wides that are pretty unreal with the amenities.

Because my job pays me well enough to afford a beautiful location doesn't mean I'm better than someone who chooses to live in a house with wheels. Beats the hell out of gov housing or wasted rent.

 

[Antidisestablishmentarian]

Where I'm from, living in a trailer is certain death. Tornados love the trailer park.

 

[ginwilly]

Where I'm from, living in a trailer is certain death. Tornados love the trailer park.

Yeah, but you also get visited by aliens at a higher rate, so there's that

 

[Antidisestablishmentarian]

Naw that's over one state.

We kept shooting at 'em so they said fuck it, New Mexicans are easier to probe.