Now Here's A Bad Idea: Government Decreases Funding to Fight Medicare Fraud
Budget cuts are making healthcare whistleblowers more important than ever. According to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, thanks to cuts in the HHS budget, Medicare and Medicaid are about to have even fewer resources to fight fraud and abuse. The Center for Public Integrity obtained internal documents from HHS-OIG that discuss the effects budget cuts are about to have on Medicare's ability to defend itself against fraud in the medical field -- and the outlook is grim. In all, OIG is losing 400 employees - a full 20% of its staff - as a result of the cuts. Now that is a short-sighted plan. I don't know whether Congress or HHS is deciding where to place the cuts, but it is a huge mistake to cut funding from the branch of the agency devoted to getting money back in to Medicare and Medicaid coffers. As a whistleblower attorney, I can attest that there are brave men and women willing to risk their jobs to try to stop fraud. But these whistleb