| With state budgets, including Montana, facing declining revenue projections many states are stepping up their efforts to save money by cracking down on Medicaid fraud. h/t RH Reality Check.
That's one reason why what Annie Bukacek is doing is so, so wrong. Bukacek is an uber-right, would-be abortion banner who is giving other Kalispell crazies a run for their money after criminal investigators rolled in to investigate her for Medicaid fraud. Bukacek not only harmed the patients she is alleged to have scammed--she's ripped-off every single one of us who have ever paid taxes in this state. Medicaid fraud puts an extra hurt on Montana taxpayers because unlike Medicare, the federally funded health care benefit program for seniors, Medicaid is a joint state-federal funded program for low-income people.
Nationwide, fraud perpetuated against both public (Medicaid) and private health plans costs between $72 and $220 billion annually.
Fun fact: that sum is enough to pay for one third of U.S. defense spending for fiscal year 2010. It could cover the entire defense spending this year for Iraq and Afghanistan combined--and leave the U.S. with $100 million dollars to spare.
This year, New York state doubled their Medicaid fraud crackdown efforts and recovered an additional $114 million. I wonder how much money Montana could recover if all the Bukaceks out there were stopped.
If the rash of absurd self-fellating letters to the editor and blog comments pretending that this is about praying with patients means anything, Bukacek and her minions just don't get it. Here's an idea Bukacek: instead of rabble-rousing, how about reading the Bible now and again. There's this part about not stealing... |
