GET READY FOR $4 BILLION IN MEDICARE FRAUD

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A new congressional study of Medicare abuse says fraudulent billing practices by doctors will cost the cash-strapped program $4 billion over the next five years. The General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, blames much of the problem on obsolete computer technology used in auditing the Medicare claims submitted by doctors. GAO investigators testified before the Senate today that a minority of doctors (8 percent) are responsible for most of the abuse. Still, their creative use of the Medicare billing system has already cost more than $1.24 billion in the last two years. The new evidence of damage done by grifting doctors will only fuel GOP enthusiasm forreining in Medicare spending, notes TIME Washington economics correspondent Suneel Ratan. Possible GOP Medicare cuts could reach$300 billion.