I have repeatedly wondered why the United States allows fraud and abuse in the health care system to flourish. Fraud is especially rampant in Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is required to pay on a timely basis and often must chase down fraudulent transactions later. It’s called pay and chase. By contrast, a better system would flag suspicious transactions and stop payments or slow them until further investigation.
Author: Devon Herrick
Health Care Fraud and Abuse is Tolerated as a Normal Business Practice
I have written about numerous examples of abuse over the years. From anesthesiologist-owned lab that charged a Texas woman $17,850 dollars for urine drug screen that should have lost less than $100; to a Florida woman charged 15,242 for preventive injections in case she was exposed to rabies, 10 times what other facilities charged. There was the New York man whose assistant surgeon charged $117,000 for a service that Medicare would only have paid $850. Then there are air ambulance rides that cost $1,000 a mile. A Colorado woman was erroneously told her copay would be $1.337 but was later hit with a $230,000 surprise bill. When a jury said she did not owe it an appeals court ruled in favor of the hospital. There are examples of doctors charging hundreds to remove a splinter, claiming it meets the criteria of surgery. Some private equity-owned facilities charge double when a colonoscopy requires polyp removal. These examples are exceptional only in how common they are.
Should Employers Be Allowed to Use Genetics to Screen Bad Employees?
Recent technology makes it easier to assess genetic risks earlier, which could make some people unemployable. The following is from the New York Times:
While the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, or GINA, protects workers from being fired over their genetic test results, and the Americans With Disabilities Act protects those with active disabilities, neither law compels an employer to provide accommodations to help mitigate a person’s future health risk.
CDC: Smoking is Down, Vaping is Up
In my lifetime smoking has gone from something widely accepted and even cool to a lower status habit. According to the CDC, recognizing smoking as a health hazard and getting Americans to quit or cut back is one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th Century. A recent survey found smoking is something that only about 9% of Americans enjoy. That is the lowest on record.