Shore up leaks

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To the Editor:

Medicare is not exactly an efficient program since it is by far the largest contributor to the nation’s budget deficit and is expected to grow alarmingly as the population ages.

As CBS’ “60 Minutes” disclosed recently, more than $60 billion is lost in the Medicare system every year due to fraudulent billing practices. Additionally, a compilation by Thomson Reuters of published research and expert opinion concludes that the total health care system (including Medicare) waste ranges from $600 billion to $850 billion annually through system inefficiencies, errors, lack of care coordination, unwarranted use, preventable conditions, as well as fraud and abuse. 

Before we add additional millions of patients to the Medicare system or provide some other public option, much needs to be done to “shore-up” the present system and plug the leaks that are causing the U.S. taxpayer billions of dollars every year. 

Richard Noxon

Algonquin

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