ESTIMATE PUTS COST OF MEDICARE SCAMS AT $60 BILLION A YEAR
 

Washington, Feb 28 -

“Mandatory spending on Medicare and Medicaid will be more than $650 billion this year,” stated Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the size and complexity of the Medicare program made it inherently susceptible to improper payments and serious management challenges, and an estimate puts the cost at as much as $60 billion a year.  In addition, in 2011 the GAO designated Medicare and Medicaid as ‘high-risk’ programs due to waste, fraud, and abuse. In this hearing, we will look at how much is lost in these programs, the reasons behind these extensive costs, and how to combat these losses.”

The Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: A Continuing Threat to Medicare and Medicaid,” on Wednesday, March 2, 2011, at 10:00 AM in Room 2322 RHOB.

Witnesses

 The hearing will have six witnesses:

•John Spiegel, Director of Medicare Program Integrity, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

•Kathleen King, Director of the Health Care Division, Government Accountability Office (GAO).

•Gerald Roy, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

•Omar Perez, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, HHS Office of the Inspector General, Miami Regional Office.

•The Hon. R. Alex Acosta, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and current Dean of the Florida International University College of Law.

•Craig H. Smith, former General Counsel of Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration.

Additional witnesses may be called at the discretion of the Majority.