FBI Medicare fraud cases a reminder: Federal health programs bleed taxpayer dollars
Friday, December 2, 2011 at 9:15AM
An elderly woman discusses swine flu vaccine with her healthcare provider in 1976. The federal government spent the equivalent of $500 million in today’s dollars, according to Time magazine. The vaccine had serious adverse effects and the government withdrew the nationwide initiative weeks after it began. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention image)Build a healthcare program large enough to accommodate every senior citizen in a country as big and diverse as the U.S., and any organization would be challenged to manage the money that comes and goes.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson socialized healthcare for US seniors in 1965, the bill he signed was heralded as an example of bipartisan success.
Nearly half a century later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has its hands full trying to recoup billions of dollars siphoned off by criminals who commit healthcare fraud.



