Easy Money
October 25, 2009 5:00 PM
"Tony" claims he stole more than $20-million dollars from the Medicare system before he was arrested.
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By Marion A. Stahl
Listening to 60 Minutes last Sunday (October 25), I was bewildered by the segment on Medicare Fraud.
The stories recounted by a disguised perpetrator, still smiling about his mischief, were quite a stunning revelation!
We have been reading about financial fraud in the past year like a blaze sweeping through the news. In previous years, we have heard of similar fraud in health care. Physicians allegedly were falsifying diagnoses or procedures. Some of these doctors served time, other had careers, as wells as lives, ruined by these allegations. These investigations often went beyond the call of duty. The examiners appeared to be on a witch hunt.
This seemed to be timed to discredit government programs and Medicare. However, let me point out that my researches show that one could have presented a similar story of private insurance scams.
Why speak only of Medicare? Fraud and deceit are all around us. I have heard of providers who were animated about fighting fraud ? and then later were accused of the mischief themselves. The staff of these doctors had called the insurers on the issues again and again, and did not receive a response. In this case the fraudsters used our justice system to cover up their wrongdoing by reporting the well-intended doctors. When I heard those stories, the famous quote of Charles de Montesquieu came to mind: "There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law, and in the name of justice ..." Errors of justice can cause serious harm and very possibly be behind our shortage of doctors today.
I am glad that the search has gone beyond our mostly devoted physicians, who have worked years to obtain degrees and earn their qualifications. The scoundrel behind bars interviewed on 60 Minutes was just one in a long the line of impostors we need to find.
In summary, fraud is a serious issue in our present system. Enforcement is a must, but use of "fair justice" is an essential requisite, as well as an obligation.
Marion A. Stahl
Mstahl.writer@yahoo.com
Marion is writing a novel on this subject that will come out later this year: "The Monster Chase."