One of the reoccurring themes when I talk to my fellow citizens on the right of the political spectrum is freeloaders. They seem utterly outraged and maybe terrified that someone might be getting something with their tax money. I keep hearing stories about the welfare mama driving a Cadillac. Another favorite story is the teenage bimbo driving a hot car, living with her boyfriend, and paying for cigarettes with food stamps. Then we have malingers collecting workers comp for a fake injury. The stories go on and on.
I have no doubt that there are cases like the above. I spent an afternoon a while back Googling for statistics on this type of fraud or abuse of the system. I did not have a lot of luck finding any numbers. My gut feeling is that the dollars pale in comparison to the real welfare cheats, doctors, lawyers, hospitals, and corporations.
A while back I worked for a large corporation involved in the care of the elderly. Their standard business practice was to bill Medicare for every possible thing. Apparently they were a little too zealous about it. The government pushed back at them and they had to pay back a rather large sum of money (in the millions). If memory serves there was also a fine involved, but I am not entirely sure on that part.
A news story just broke, 91 charged in Medicare fraud crackdown. They have just arrested 91 individuals, including doctors and other medical professionals. They are claiming $295 million in false billings. Continue reading “Welfare Mama, My A$$”