Blow the Whistle on Privatizing Medicare

Amidst the beltway budget battle — the one which threatens to turn the lights of the government off — is a proposal to privatize Medicare. What!

With the Department of Justice estimating the cost of Medicare fraud at between 30 and 60 billion dollars a year, does it really make sense to dole more money out to the private sector?

And it is not just that the government is being cheated out of money. Many times the fraud — including situations where defective drugs and devices are paid for by government programs — actually involves conduct that poses health risk to consumers. Of course, when the consumers get injured, it is the government’s insurance programs that pick up the bill.

From pharmaceutical products to weapons systems and computers, the government has not been able to trust its private contractors to stay honest. Now do we really want to privatize Medicare or is this just big talk from those who have not thought this through?