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I love the ideas that Sam Altman has but would say that reigning in Medicare/Medicaid fraud would truly need to be tackled aggressively before expanding Medicar

I love the ideas that Sam Altman has but would say that reigning in Medicare/Medicaid fraud would truly need to be tackled aggressively before expanding Medicare. You need to look no further than the $1.3 billion Medicare fraud that was reported today. One area that seriously needs addressing with regards to healthcare that nobody thinks about are the family member caregivers who cannot work outside of the home because their are no resources to care for their disabled family members. In these situations the disabled family members have Medicare (after 27 months from disability date) but the caregiver who cannot work outside of the home because they have to provide care for their loved ones are currently not eligible for Medicare until they reach 65. These families are typically financially strapped already due to the uncovered cost of healthcare for their loved ones. Add that to then not being able to work outside of the home because they must care for their loved one and you are dealing with typically very low income families. When a family member is the primary caregiver of an individual with disabilities they should be able to get on Medicare as well regardless of age. This would go a long way to dealing with caregiver depression and would allow thousands of individuals to stay in their homes rather than being placed in institutions or community based services because one family member cannot stay home and provide care because they must work to purchase their own health insurance.

PaulHoule 9y ago
That $1.3 billion is in the context of a program that spent $553 billion in FY 2016. http://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/total-medicaid-spending/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D http://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/total-medicaid-s... Medicare and Medicaid fraud are real problems, but conservatives like to overstate them, as they like to overstate fraud in the "Lifeline" program.
- Powerofmene 9y ago
  The $1.3 billion was from a single fraud ring not overall Medicare fraud. That was merely one investigation that netted 400 individuals. In 2015 it was reported that Medicare fraud for the previous year was a $60 Billion of a $600 billion Program while in 2016 it was reported that $140 Billion in "improper payments" were paid on the Medicaid program or 12% of the total program. Oh, and the rate of improper payments on Medicaid has almost doubled in the last few years. So across both programs, $200 billion in fraudulent/improper payments in approximately one year. Just could not access the CMS website to gain the most recent Medicare numbers.
- Powerofmene 9y ago
  Btw, the link you provided was for Medicaid spending and it has been reported that Medicaid had $140 billion in improper payments. The $1.3 billion was on one Medicare fraud investigation, not the entire fraud for the year through Medicare. Medicare and Medicaid are distinctly separate programs.

PaulHoule 9y ago

That $1.3 billion is in the context of a program that spent $553 billion in FY 2016. http://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/total-medicaid-spending/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D http://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/total-medicaid-s... Medicare and Medicaid fraud are real problems, but conservatives like to overstate them, as they like to overstate fraud in the "Lifeline" program.

Powerofmene 9y ago
The $1.3 billion was from a single fraud ring not overall Medicare fraud. That was merely one investigation that netted 400 individuals. In 2015 it was reported that Medicare fraud for the previous year was a $60 Billion of a $600 billion Program while in 2016 it was reported that $140 Billion in "improper payments" were paid on the Medicaid program or 12% of the total program. Oh, and the rate of improper payments on Medicaid has almost doubled in the last few years. So across both programs, $200 billion in fraudulent/improper payments in approximately one year. Just could not access the CMS website to gain the most recent Medicare numbers.
Powerofmene 9y ago
Btw, the link you provided was for Medicaid spending and it has been reported that Medicaid had $140 billion in improper payments. The $1.3 billion was on one Medicare fraud investigation, not the entire fraud for the year through Medicare. Medicare and Medicaid are distinctly separate programs.