Medicaring Insurance Companies

Insurance companies bid for Medicare and the GAO says the government can recoup over payments. It seems that Medicare doesn't do it, about $59 million in 2003, when they audited 49 of 220 providers and found significant errors at 41 of them. They are supposed to audit 1/3 of the companies annually, in 2006 they managed 14%.

In a completely "unrelated" story, Medicare is going after beneficiaries for unpaid services, it seems that they've sent letters to about 135,000 people telling they still owe money, in most cases money that they failed to withhold from Social Security checks. As Kerry Weems, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said, “I am intently focused on this matter and will make it a priority to correct the errors and minimize them in the future.”

Thanks to NYT Health .

So, $59million in 2003 with decreasing audits each year and now they're going after beneficiaries? Sounds like the BushCo we know and loathe, give to corporations take from the poor, an inverted Robin Hood.