"William Wixon" wrote in message
...

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

-snip-

I think you have some misconceptions there, Joe. Rates of fraud are
roughly the same with private and public insurers. The high estimate for
total medical fraud in the US is $220 billion, probably based on the same
kind of estimate that pegs Medicare fraud at $60 billion.

In any case, if you want to see a brief, current analysis without many
numbers, and references to a variety of sources, this is a good place to
start:

http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/departmen...632A4F2163.pdf

Or, you could look at this, which is a one-page summary from the National
Health Care Anti-fraud Association:

http://www.nhcaa.org/eweb/DynamicPag...oblemOfHCFraud

The target of news media is government-run programs, because the idea
that our tax money is being given to fraudsters is a natural news lead,
guaranteed to get people angry. But a fair analysis shows that it's a
worldwide problem for both private and public insurers, and that the
rates of fraud don't vary much between them.

--
Ed Huntress



thanks ed for continuing to be here and posting your rebuttals. just
yesterday i was telling someone about how if you weren't here i probably
would be swayed by their arguments. there have been numerous times when
they post something and i'm like "hmmm, jeez..." meaning, they got me,
SURE that what they've said is true and we're wrong and moving in the
wrong direction. so many times you've done the "fact check" thing. there
have been several times when i've been astonished when you fact check a
post and post a reply that shoots it down. where would we be in the world
without our ed huntresses? after reading this list for a couple years now
i'm deeply suspicious of whatever BOTH sides say (but especially
particularly the right). so much of the stuff that's fed to us is bunk.
r.c.m. is a small pond, i see this as a microcosm of how much propaganda
we're fed out there and the effects it has on us. it's scary.

thanks ed.

b.w.

Darn, Bill that's one of the nicest Christmas presents I've had today.
Thanks very much.

I've said several times lately that I don't post to change anyone's mind,
and haven't for several years, when I gave up on having reasonable
discussions on most of the hot topics. But I try to stick to it as a habit
of mind, and it does keep me from getting rusty.

Since Obama's election we've seen a radical uptick in antagonistic argument
and the nonsense "facts" that wingers cook up to support their idiotic
ideas. Like you, it appears to me that it's coming from the right, by at
least 3:1, IMO, and the Internet has become a great vehicle for perpetuating
lies.

As it happens I've just gotten involved in a big project -- it may be for
the rest of my life -- and it's all about punching holes in mistaken
"conventional wisdoms." I spent some time on the phone last week with Alan
Tonelson, which gives a hint about what it might be. d8-)

I hope that my practice here helps me out, because I'm really in for it,
going against the grain of overwhelming opinion. I'm girding my loins. Maybe
it won't be so hard after knocking heads here.

'Hope you had a Merry Christmas, or whatever, and have a happy New Year.

--
Ed Huntress