NYT - F.B.I. Said to Misuse Funds for Health Fraud Cases

[maddezmom]

By ROBERT PEAR
Published: May 16, 2005

WASHINGTON, May 15 - Money earmarked by Congress for investigating health care fraud appears to have been shifted improperly to other purposes, like fighting terrorism, Congressional auditors say in a new report.

The report, to be issued this week by the Government Accountability Office, says health care cases got short shrift from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which was supposed to use the money exclusively to investigate fraud against Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs. The money came from an account in the Medicare trust fund.

The bureau was unable to show that it had used the money for the intended purpose, the report said, noting that F.B.I. agents "previously devoted to health care fraud investigations were shifted to counterterrorism activities" in the last three years.

Moreover, it said, the bureau "was unable to track overall costs related to health care fraud investigations." As a result, it said, the bureau and taxpayers had "minimal assurance" that all the money - $114 million a year - was properly spent.

~snip~
more: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/politics/16fraud.html

[izzie]

1. We will never find the money this whole group makes off with.

The President hands money out like it is his to do that to. Congress has just sort of let him go. Does any one know where the money is going? We do know we are paying 400,000 to a man who has yet to be at the WH when anything bad is going on. It would be cheaper to have Queen Elizabeth be our figure head. She also does not mix with how her country is run.

[bettyellen]

2. and they'll use the fraud as an excuse to say medicare isn't working......

yeah they'll screw it from both ends. sounds like what they're doing to schools.....

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Can we just shut down the FBI and CIA

just think of all the good we could do with all that money. If we spent even 1/10 of their budgets on doing good things for people, we wouldn't need to fight a war on terra.

[noamnety]

4. Which fund was it

That paid for Bush's Traveling Social Security Circus?

[rainbow4321]

5. Is it any wonder...

look at the family who owns the largest hospital chain HCA...and we know THEIR company fraud history. Last thing Frist wants is yet another billion dollar fine. Can't find the fraud if they are not looking for it!

Part of the last Iraq $$ bill allows 50,000 nurses to be brought into the country...i.e cheap labor for the hospitals so they can continue to treat US nurses like crap w/ low pay. Now they get to pay even lower salaries by bringing in these nurses. Again, which company will this benefit? Frist's HCA.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D89S1C582.html

Those measures survived negotiations despite widespread opposition in the Senate. As the bill made its way through the process, it grew to provide 10,500 visas for Australians and up to 50,000 visas that went unused between 2001-04 for nurses or their family members.

"The shortage our hospitals are facing is coming close to epidemic proportions," said Chris Paulitz, spokesman for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas. "Americans are not getting the health care they deserve but are dependent on. We limited this to 50,000 existing visas not being used to be used for nurses."

[Daphne08]

6. I still want to know where all those trillions are!

Do they think we are going to just... forget?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml

Oh, if it's been located, and I haven't discovered that fact, someone please alert me. I'm growing weary of being p*ssed about that! :P

[IChing]

7. GAO: FBI Health Care Fraud Funds Missing( used for counter terror)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Money earmarked for health care fraud investigations may be going to the fight against terrorism and other uses, congressional investigators said in a report Monday on the FBI. The FBI says that it has put all the money, $114 million a year, into investigations of fraud in the Medicare, Medicaid and other government health care programs. But the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative agency, said that assertion can't be verified because the "FBI did not have a system in place to capture its overall health care fraud investigation costs."

The GAO undertook its review at the request of Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, after the Justice Department notified Congress that the FBI had shifted agents to counterterrorism matters following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The Justice inspector general has previously reported that 321 agents were moved from white-collar crime investigations, especially health care fraud, to counterterrorism cases after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"It's inexcusable that the government cannot account for millions of dollars set aside to fight health care fraud. Health care fraud is a big challenge, and big money is at stake," said Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HEALTH_CARE_FRAUD?SITE=MNMAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-05-16-14-57-44

[SoCalDem]

8. Doesn't really matter anyway. we all know they were just going to use

those funds to harrass medicare patients anyway. Does anyone really think they would go after the HMO frauds or Pill pusher frauds?? They always attack the little guy, because the little guy cannot fight back.

[peacetalksforall]

9. Is anyone counting all the missing money from all our government

agencies and departments...isn't it billions just from the DOD and HUD?

[struggle4progress]

10. kick kick kick