Obama administration gives up effort to curb Medicare fraud

Hey, it's only taxpayer money.

(Cato)- In a word, government is stupid.

As if to prove the point, the Obama administration—despite its rhetoric about getting tough on fraud—is behaving pretty much as I predicted. In mid-November, the administration announced two anti-fraud efforts, one to prevent fraudulent claims for power wheelchairs and scooters, and another to eliminate “pay and chase” for some Medicare claims in some states. Not two months later, under “heavy provider opposition,” Medicare has delayed these demonstrations “until further notice.”

If you’re interested to see how this all turns out, follow @CMS.gov on Twitter and keep an eye out for #pmd_demonstration (the wheelchairs and scooters demonstration project; there’s no hashtag for the project to curb “pay and chase”).