Disability Law

Obama Calls for Increased Scrutiny of Disability Programs

From NASDAQ Online: Doctors and patients, including those collecting disability payments, would get a closer look from federal officials under the budget plan issued by the Obama administration on Thursday.

Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget includes increased funding to attack waste, fraud and abuse in federal health and disability programs, an area where the administration estimates every dollar spent will yield far more in savings.

The administration’s fiscal 2010 budget calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to receive $311 million to fight health care fraud. The administration projects that every additional dollar spent by HHS in fighting fraud will yield $1.55 in savings.

Obama’s budget calls for increased scrutiny of spending on Medicaid programs for the poor and two Medicare programs for the elderly, the Medicare Prescription Drug program and Medicare Advantage, an option that typically offers lower out-of-pocket costs for a broader array of medical benefits, including prescription drugs. The administration said the funding will help program operators to identify excessive payments and to adopt new processes to spot and attack problems that result in waste, fraud or abuse of the federal health programs. Link back to NASDAQ story here:

Full post as published by Social Security Disability Law Blog on May 12, 2009 (boomark / email).