[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 95 (Thursday, June 4, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3902-H3907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEBT CLOCK TICKING
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr.
Schweikert of Arizona was recognized until 10 p.m. as the designee of
the majority leader.)
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia
(Mr. Carter), my friend.
Honoring Deano's Italian
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate
Deano's Italian on being named the Best Italian Restaurant in the State
of Georgia.
Deano's is a beloved family-owned and -operated Italian restaurant in
Dublin, Georgia. This great honor highlights how a small town eatery
with a deep compassion for its community can compete with restaurants
in larger cities across the State.
The restaurant was evaluated on multiple criteria, such as food
quality, consistency, atmosphere, and its overall dining experience.
Voters noted that what made Deano's stand out was its combination of
authentic Italian cuisine and southern hospitality.
The city of Dublin also believes this achievement will bring business
to nearby shops, cafes, and local attractions, creating a meaningful
impact on their economy.
Deano's has proven just how far commitment to customers can take you.
This level of service is a great example of Georgia's growing tourism
industry.
Recognizing Gussie Gammon's 100th Birthday
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Augusta
``Gussie'' Gammon's 100th birthday.
Gussie has dedicated much of her life to public service and an
unwavering commitment to the Republican Party.
Born on June 25, 1926, in Philadelphia, Gussie moved to Georgia in
1983, becoming a strong force within Republican politics by founding
four women's Republican clubs and serving as a delegate to three
Republican Presidential conventions. She also served as Glynn County
campaign manager for President George H.W. Bush and Congressman Jack
Kingston.
Aside from her work in politics, she founded Johnson Insurance Agency
in 1969 in the Florida Keys with her late husband. Together, they
raised four daughters and were blessed with eight grandchildren and
eight great-grandchildren.
Gussie later married Don Gammon, with whom she continues her
remarkable journey.
Mr. Speaker, it is my great honor to wish Ms. Gammon a happy 100th
birthday.
Honoring Dr. Paul Brooksher
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Paul
Brooksher, who retired from the position of superintendent of Bryan
County Schools this year.
Paul has faithfully worked in public education for 31 years, serving
as superintendent for 14 of them. Bryan County is one of the fastest-
growing school systems in Georgia, and Paul has worked tirelessly to
lay the foundation necessary to support this growth through effective
investment in teachers, facilities, and programs.
After he announced his retirement, his colleagues encouraged him to
reconsider, a true testament to how well-
[[Page H3903]]
liked and highly regarded he was in his role.
Paul said he was ready to step into a new chapter of his life, one
where he could focus on spending time with the ones he loves the most.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Paul for his contribution to the education of
young Georgians, and I wish him the very best.
Recognizing Dr. Randy Kluender
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr.
Randy Kluender for his more than 40 years of experience and service in
the field of dentistry.
Randy currently serves as the president and a board of trustees
member of the Georgia School of Orthodontics. He has enjoyed a
wonderful and fulfilling career, including as administrator at the
University of Colorado and leadership roles in the American College of
Dentists and Omicron Kappa Upsilon.
Chosen for ADEA's Harry Bruce Legislative Fellowship in Washington,
D.C., Randy brought a wealth of experience to legislative issues
concerning dentistry. There, he worked to increase funding for the
National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Dental and
Craniofacial Research.
Above all, Randy is a man of good character who has spoken with
numerous prospective dental students, conveying his passion and the
importance of upholding ethical standards in dentistry.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Randy.
{time} 2120
Honoring Frederick Lawrence Muller
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Frederick
Muller, who passed away on May 19, 2026.
Muller was a UPenn and Georgetown graduate, husband, Navy lieutenant,
and successful investment manager.
During the Cuban missile crisis, Muller served to enforce the naval
quarantine of Cuba.
After 2 years in the North Atlantic, he served an additional 2 years
with the Navy intelligence unit in Washington.
In addition to his military service, Muller was also successful
professionally. He founded, grew, and eventually sold his own
institutional investment firm.
Outside of work, Muller continued to serve others in new ways. In
Georgia, he was a trustee for the Savannah Country Day School, a member
of the University of Georgia Library's Board of Visitors, a member of
the Trust Committee of Saint John's Episcopal Church, and a trustee of
the Mighty Eighth Foundation.
Frederick Muller leaves behind a legacy of family devotion, military
service, American entrepreneurship and servant leadership.
Congratulating Jere's Antiques
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate
Jere's Antiques in Savannah on their 50th anniversary.
Since 1796, Jere's Antiques has been a major source of supplies for
antique auction houses, designers, and individuals.
Over the years, he has created a destination filled with history,
craftsmanship, and timeless beauty.
From sourcing extraordinary pieces across England and Europe to
welcoming generations of customers into his Savannah showroom, Jere's
passion and dedication have never wavered.
Jere's success is not only measured in business achievement, but in
the countless people he has inspired, helped, and connected with over
the decades.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Jere for preserving the past, enriching
Savannah's homes, and all of his hard work for the past 50 years.
Honoring James G. Minter, Jr.
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life
and the legacy of James G. Minter, Jr. of Inman, Georgia, who passed
away on May 27, 2026, at the age of 95.
Minter was a proud graduate of Fayette County High School and
University of Georgia, where he earned a degree in journalism.
Following his education, he served his country as an infantry
training officer during the Korean war before beginning a distinguished
journalism career with The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta
Constitution.
Over the course of decades, Minter became the executive editor of the
combined Atlanta Journal-Constitution, helping shape one of Georgia's
leading newspapers.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, he was a devoted husband,
father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and lifelong member of the
Methodist Church.
I extend my deepest condolences to his wife of 70 years, Anne; his
family; and all who knew and loved him. We honor his service, his
leadership, and his enduring impact on his community.
Honoring McHugh ``Mac'' Maurin
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor McHugh
``Mac'' Maurin, who will be turning 100 years old on June 4.
Mr. Maurin served our country as a Navy World War II veteran.
He was raised in Reserve, Louisiana, where he attended and graduated
from LSU in 1951 following the war.
After graduating, he began to work as a civil engineer in the roofing
manufacturing industry.
His successful career took him and his family to New Jersey, Texas,
and finally Peachtree City, Georgia, in 1981.
He then retired to Concord, Georgia, before following his youngest
daughter to St. Marys.
Mr. Maurin's accomplishments also extended to the home and family he
created. He raised six children with his late wife, Peggy, who passed
away earlier this year, after more than 72 years of marriage.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Maurin for his service and wish him a happy
birthday.
Recognizing Commander Nathaniel L. Robinson
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize
Commander Nathaniel L. Robinson for his dedication to protecting the
American people.
Commander Robinson is the commanding officer of the Coast Guard
Marine Safety Unit, where he serves as Captain of the Port, officer in
charge of marine inspections, Federal maritime security, and on-scene
operations throughout coastal Georgia.
He is a graduate of the University of West Florida, Southern New
Hampshire University, and the U.S. Air Force Command and Staff College.
For his esteemed work, Commander Robinson received a certificate in
executive leadership from the University of Notre Dame.
Prior to the Coast Guard, he was the director of marketing for the
Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. He was granted his commission from
the United States Coast Guard's Officer Candidate School in 2006.
His decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard
Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal, and Commandant's
Letter of Commendation Ribbon.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Commander Robinson for his outstanding service.
Honoring O.V. Lewis
Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and to
honor Mr. O.V. Lewis of Blairsville, Georgia, for his upcoming 95th
birthday on June 16, 2026.
O.V. joined the Young Harris College faculty in 1952, after teaching
high school for 2 years in Wayne and Appling Counties in south Georgia.
During his time at Young Harris, he served as an accounting instructor
for 48 years and as a registrar for 31 years.
He retired in 2011, with the longest tenure of any previous college
employee, but his service in advancing Young Harris College's mission
did not end there. Through generous philanthropy and planned giving, he
established the O.V. Lewis Endowed Scholarship to advance the education
of future generations.
In 2022, O.V. was honored with the Nancy Louise Haynes Stevens
Sanderson Robertson Outstanding Friend Award.
O.V. will tell you his fondest memories center around his time with
Young Harris College faculty and students. The feeling is reciprocal.
Many former students, such as myself, still maintain close
relationships with him and credit him with having a significant
influence on their success in life and careers, all because of O.V.'s
unparalleled commitment to his students in the classroom and beyond
their graduations.
Mr. Speaker, I thank O.V. for his outstanding commitment to
furthering the education of so many students, and I wish him a very
happy 95th birthday.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
[[Page H3904]]
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Georgia.
Mr. Speaker, we are going to actually try to do something that is a
little complex, so I apologize. I apologize for those trying to keep
track.
If I start speaking like a machine gun--once again, I have had a
stunning amount of coffee--just wave at me, and I will slow down.
I am going to try to actually explain and walk through what we talk
about constantly, and that is waste and fraud. I have got three silos
here, and I am going to try to fight for some understanding:
What is real in its fiscal impact.
What is sort of commercial fraud. Hey, we screwed up in the way we
wrote a piece of legislation. The administration, the bureaucrats
actually have allowed leakage--some of the leakage being hundreds of
billions of dollars.
And over here are bad actors, you know, the group from Nigeria that
has actually been conning unemployment fraud like we went through
during COVID.
I also need to actually try to explain debt and deficits when our
borrowing is stunning. So I was going to just start with this article.
It is something simple, but I am going to use it as a benchmark.
This convicted felon gets a million dollars a year to sell obsolete
internet services. You paid for it. So we have a con artist that set up
an internet company, got a government contract. He gets a million
dollars a year. It is outrageous. We should actually have the
technology, the discipline, the way we write legislation, the way we do
our appropriations to stop it. But you have got to understand a million
dollars is what we borrow about every 12 to 15 seconds.
I need to put this in perspective, because so often here we get our
brothers and sisters, Members of Congress, come behind these
microphones, and we talk about what we are going to save on something.
They don't seem to understand the burn rate. I think yesterday, we hit
$94,000 a second in borrowing. So often the debate here, more money has
been borrowed in the debate than the actual piece of legislation is
going to save.
So let's actually try to walk through this and walk through these
sorts of silos and then understand the punch line. I am going to do
this three or four times.
A number of the things you would consider fraud, I consider fraud.
There are lobbyists outside in this hallway, it is their client's
business model. That is what makes this so difficult.
{time} 2130
When you get groups from even your home district coming and saying,
``David, you don't want to reform this. That is our business model. We
would have to change things,'' that is actually the real punch line
when we use the term ``waste and fraud.''
Let's start with the board we often start with just so, once again,
we have a benchmark of understanding. Your country is going to borrow
about $2 trillion this year, and there is some noise in that number. It
is actually--in some ways, we would score it as more in the Joint
Economic Committee because we actually are crediting ourselves back
some of the student loan money, but let's just stick with $2 trillion.
Do you see here in the blue? That is really what we vote on,
nondefense, discretionary, and defense. Most of this red, almost all of
it, is formulaic, but this is actually where much of the fraud is.
Maybe that is the reason we don't touch it enough because the fraud is
in Medicare, the fraud is in Medicaid, and the fraud is in other
programs that are on autopilot. They are formulaic.
You reached a certain age. You get this benefit.
You have paid into the system. You get this benefit.
You fall under a certain income. You get this benefit, except within
there, particularly in the Medicaid system--you have seen the analysis
the Joint Economic Committee has done, or my joint economic Republicans
have done over the last year on the number of ways States--States--are
the driver of the fraud.
So let's actually walk through that.
If I came to you right now and told you that New York, the number of
home healthcare aides--this is a Medicaid program where grandma is
poor, she needs help, I have someone at home who needs help, and there
is a program that came really out of COVID or was expanded out of COVID
where I can actually hire my friends, my families, my nieces, my
nephews.
What happens, for every 1,000 residents in New York over age 65 in
2024, which is when we have the data, for New York, I have 171 people.
So think of that: 1,000 people over age 65, I have 171 people receiving
a check for this program. I have shown some charts here in the past
that this was the number one job creator, I think, in New York City
over the last couple of years.
Is that fraud? I think it is, but it is leakage in the design of the
system. We are being cheated by the State of New York, and then you
start to take a look. Well, New York is 171, but California, for every
1,000 people over age 65, they have 139 people receiving these checks.
The fascinating thing is that when we first exposed this months ago--
and we had Secretary Kennedy in front of us about a month ago and we
actually talked about this in the hearing, and he said that it is one
of the most outrageous things that he has ever come across in his time
at HHS--the month before that, my office was full of people angry at
me. There are people buying editorials.
That is one of the great scams right now is to set up AI, you put up
an editorial, and there is almost anyone who will publish it because
that is actually a lobbyist for this leakage, and this is billions and
billions and billions and billions of dollars.
Remember, if New York had the same cost of its Medicaid system--not
Medicare--Medicaid--this is healthcare for the poor--and they had the
same average cost as the rest of the country, it is $50 billion a year.
It is $50 billion a year.
So at one point, I showed you the article. It is outrageous. It is $1
million, about 15 seconds of borrowing. We are going to borrow about $7
billion today, so $50 billion starts making an impact. Starting to
understand the scale of these numbers, and you start to realize that
the top 15 producers by spending per claim, you start to actually look
at some of the things.
California actually has some magic. They must have some magic with
their Medicaid system because they are able to create their own codes.
Within those codes, we have one that is called Medi-Cal Personal Care
Services Program, and this has been around since--2019 to 2024 is my
data. On average, that code costs $876. Most of that money is paid for
you by Federal taxpayers.
Is this waste and fraud? Well, it is unlike any other State. It is
unlike any other code. This is an example, when you hear the
politicians say ``I am going to get rid of waste and fraud,'' and we
make it sound like it is somebody snuck across the border and stole
money or someone on the internet from the other side of the world stole
money, all of those are true, but it is the design of the system that
we have developed.
In the end of this stack, I am going to walk through a series of
solutions, but understand that when we tried to just trim down some of
the growth of Medicaid spending last summer and the left just attacked,
attacked, attacked, and we would show, but what about this fraud, what
about this fraud, what about this fraud, the discussion goes silent.
It is in the math. This stuff was being audited during the last
Democratic nomination. We just never fixed it.
So you start to take a look at ``Top 15 Producers by Medicare
Claims,'' and you start to look back to the personal care. It turns out
that there were 1,000,257 claims filed under this. The scale--to
understand the scale of some of these frauds, this is in the billions,
and we allow this.
Does this meet your definition of waste and fraud, because HHS--we
are going to walk through a series of things that MedPAC has tried to
identify for years that we can't seem to get enough votes here to even
run a piece of legislation to try to fix it.
Look, a couple more of these boards, and then we are going to have
some fun
[[Page H3905]]
with some headlines, which is something I almost never do, but I am
trying to find a way to explain most of the leakage in this government.
It isn't some dodgy person in a dark room. It is actually how we are
administering our programs and how poorly we are doing our jobs.
All right. ``Top 15 Producers by Medicaid Spending.''
Personal care services. Think of this: $139 billion from 2019 to
2024. It is $139 billion. That starts to add up to be real money. Maybe
instead of screwing around this place where we are trying to do
rounding errors or covering seconds of borrowing--which even in some of
the debates earlier today, that is what we were doing--how about we
start going after the things that have b's in front of it. I am going
to show you a couple where there are t's in front of it, trillions in
front of it.
If we are going to actually try to convince the brothers and sisters,
the taxpayers, the voters, and the American citizenry of what is going
on--debt and deficits and demographics in this State--that in a little
over 6 years, Medicare trust fund is empty, and hospitals, those that
get their Medicare part A money, are going to take a 12 percent cut,
and guess what is also happening around this same time. The Social
Security trust fund is empty, and people on Social Security, under the
current law, are going to take a 24 percent cut, and we are going to
double poverty.
How are we going to turn to people and say that this is over $630
billion to fix it in just a single year, and the next year is more and
the next year is more? How many people are going to look at us and say
that you have not taken care of the waste and fraud problem. How am I
going to trust you to actually make me take a cut or make me pay more
taxes or redesign the systems or do other things? We have to build some
trust, and you build the trust by stopping this insanity.
Let's actually have a little bit more fun here. The New York Post
headline, ``Notoriously Fraudulent New York Health Program Lost $1.2
Billion to Scammers and Middlemen.'' It was ten times--ten times--the
money stolen in Minnesota.
Why haven't you heard about this? If scammers are bleeding our
Medicaid systems around the State, why is it so hard to actually say--
we hold hearings on this. We have discussions about it, and then we
produce a piece of legislation, and it is almost impossible to get
sponsors on it because the next moment, it turns out that some of these
middlemen that you and I would consider fraudsters hire lobbyists or
actually bring groups of people here saying ``But that is our business
model.''
You start to look at other things.
{time} 2140
You start to look at other things, City Journal, ``Gavin Newsom's
Empire of Fraud: California has lost at least $180 billion to fraud,
according to officials and experts.'' It is program after program after
program after program. $180 billion is real money.
Is the California delegation willing to help us fix this?
Here is your problem. You start to look at some of these things:
unemployment fraud, $32.6 billion; Medicaid fraud, that one was only
$178 million; homeless spending, let's see, billions and billions,
doesn't actually give me a number.
You start to look at these things, and the waste and fraud are in the
design of our programs. There is the fraud where somebody stole your
Social Security number and did this, but the real money is how poorly
we designed the programs that are meant to help our brothers and
sisters, particularly those in poverty.
Let's have some more fun with this, if you call this fun. CalMatters,
sham hospice scheme--remember, this is something my team--I chair the
Oversight Subcommittee in the Ways and Means Committee. We have been
now working on this for months and months and months. ``Sham hospice
schemes are bilking Medicare,'' and some Medicaid, ``and harming
California seniors.''
We actually believe this scheme--if you have been reading the papers,
L.A. Times and I believe The Wall Street Journal have done stories on
this. The amount of fraud, particularly in L.A. County, on hospice--
these are some of the most frail in our society. These are supposed to
be the brothers and sisters we are loving as they are near ending life,
except there is an entire fraud network.
I am going to actually show you--let's just talk about it before I
try to show you. Someone finally did a little bit of data and found
there are hospices where there are half a dozen, a dozen, two dozen at
the same P.O. Box, and it went on for years.
Are we really that moronic to not run a simple data system and say:
Wait, does this make sense? I have multiple hospices billing from the
same P.O. Box. Does this make any sense?
Let's take a look at some more headlines: HHS Office of Inspector
General report highlights CMS potentially overpaid Medicare Advantage
organizations $462 million based on current unreported--I want to
explain this one. Let's get a little complicated.
This is what they call MedPAC. This is the group of experts and
auditors that look mostly at Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage is
now 55 percent of all of our seniors who choose Medicare. They choose
not part A, part B, but they go on what is called Medicare part C. That
is Medicare Advantage.
In here, the latest report says, it comes in about 114 percent higher
than fee-for-service. Medicare Advantage was supposed to come in at 95
percent of the cost. That difference, about $1.6 to $2 trillion over 10
years, it turns out it is real money.
How many Members of Congress have bothered to actually break this
binder and read these MedPAC reports?
I introduced a piece of legislation a year ago to not cut services
but to get rid of the risk scoring and the star rating, all the ways it
was being defrauded, and that is what this board is about.
What happens when you have people in Medicare Advantage is that the
insurer is going out and saying an acute stroke diagnosis code, except
the data says it is a fake code. It is not something anyone has. That
is how they are defrauding Medicare Advantage.
It is not a cut of services we are talking about. Yet, the number of
lobbyists and the number of social media platforms that are somehow
paid by those PR firms beat the crap out of those of us who have been
trying to fix it.
Is this what you consider waste and fraud? Of course, it is. The
difference is, those of us trying to fix it have to take on an army of
people who make their money from it. That is actually, if you want to
start to stabilize, even demonstrate to bond markets we are starting to
take serious our leakage, our bleeding, our borrowing--remember, we are
going to borrow $7 billion to $8 billion just today.
Where are my brothers and sisters here who will tell you how
conservative they are, how tough they are, how truth-teller they are?
How many of them are going to sponsor the legislation to help me fix
this? So far, for almost 1 year, not a single sponsor other than
myself.
Let's actually go through some more. Let's go through my home.
Actually, no, let's do Minnesota first. Minnesota is always fun to go
through. All right, 5 Eyewitness News: ``Audits--Lack of security
reviews left Minnesota's SNAP system vulnerable to breaches, fraud.''
If you have read the story of nutrition support, we are trying to
help the most vulnerable in our society, and it is full of fraudsters
and fraudsters and fraudsters. How does someone not catch it when the
same Social Security number is used over and over, when there is no
Social Security number, when the same location has more people signed
up for a benefit than there are people in that immediate area?
Keep that in mind because I am going to walk you through some of the
solutions, but this stuff is absolutely outrageous, and then you start
to take a look. Channel 7 Eyewitness News: `` `Ghost students' can
steal your identity, enroll you in school, and take loans out in your
name.''
We had people getting student loans who don't exist. Many of them had
been buying your personal ID, your personal information, on the dark
web, signing you up, putting you in debt. Then, you get to figure out
how to unwind it as they are walking away with the money. This is
another sense of the incompetent design in these programs.
[[Page H3906]]
All right, a little bit more, and this one, I happen to actually have
had a fascinating experience with: ``Arizona sober living crisis: 140
indicted in billion-dollar Medicaid scheme.'' We think it is $2.8
billion.
Let me walk you through this. We call this the sober living home scam
in Arizona.
Two Christmases ago, this last Christmas--we have sort of a family
tradition. We go up to the Navajo Nation. We will call it the Nation.
My parents used to do some work up there more as part of a church
group. We have actually been up there and installed Starlink satellite
dishes so that some of what we call chapter houses actually could have
broadband, so they could have telehealth. My little girl has actually
helped to do sheep herding.
It is a fascinating place. It is monstrous. I have had friends on the
Navajo Nation come up to me and say: David, you realize my uncle
disappeared 7 years ago? A van showed up here in Kayenta. They were
recruiting people who might have had a drinking problem. They put them
in the van, and they disappeared.
It turns out, they were being driven down to Phoenix, being stuck in
a sober living home, being billed to the Medicaid system, which we call
AHCCCS, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Then, when the
benefit was over, they were thrown out and rolled to another sober
living home.
I had multiple acquaintances, friends from the Navajo Nation, say
they have family members they can't find. They have disappeared. This
is beyond the fraud of stealing $2.8 billion. Most of it actually isn't
State money. It is also Federal money because of the way the match
works.
There are people who have died. People have lost their lives because
of how criminal this was, and it went on for a decade.
Then, our model is, we are going to indict a bunch of people. We are
never going to get the money back. Almost none of these people will
ever really go to jail or prison.
Have we lost our minds? Yes, we have.
DOJ announces a record-breaking take down of healthcare fraud
schemes--okay, let's actually walk through a couple. The Justice
Department has cracked down on a Pakistani national who allegedly
orchestrated a $650 million fraud scheme in Arizona's Medicaid system.
{time} 2150
How does this happen? How many times have you actually heard the
attorney general, the county attorneys, these things, get up and say:
We finally busted a fraud scheme that has been going on for years and
years, and there is this much money missing. Now, all the money got
shipped overseas, so we are not going to get any of it back, but we are
going to file indictments on people who are not in the country anymore
or were never in the country.
Have we lost our minds?
So here are a couple more of these because I am under a clock here.
``DOJ and CMS healthcare 2025 fraud crackdown.'' If you take a look
at--and you have got to give the Trump administration, you have got to
give Kennedy, you have got to give Dr. Oz credit because they are
trying. Look at the chart. $1.3 billion and trying to crack down and
stop some of the fraud.
But here is your problem: Just Medicare will spend $1.1 trillion this
year.
So you have got to understand the scale. $1 billion is a stunning
amount of money. A trillion is a thousand billion dollars. So start to
look at these.
Now, this one I wanted to use as an example of how perverse
Washington, D.C., and Congress have become. Let's look at this
headline: ``Duplication of radiology imaging studies . . .''
What is the cost? My economists last year, we did--and it is a rough
estimate--we were coming up with $25 billion to $35 billion in
duplicative scans. You bust up your knee. You are out snow skiing. You
get an MRI on your knee. Then you go to your hometown, and what is the
first thing that happens? They redo the scan. CTs, MRIs, ultrasounds,
X-rays. We have been proposing a simple idea. Take the scan when you
get it. Attach it to your smartphone, and it travels with you. When you
get to your doctor or your next appointment, they hit a button, and,
boom, it is up on the big screen, and they can see, oh, yes, you have a
fracture or you don't have a fracture.
Let's say at the top end my economist came up with $35 billion. I
have already had multiple lobbyists in my office doing everything they
can to stop that piece of legislation from ever getting a hearing
because it turns out the duplicate scans are their business model.
So the point I am trying to sell here is: You and I, we go out on the
stump, and we say we are going to go after waste and fraud, except the
lobbyist in the back of the room is pissed at us because that fraud
that you and I know does not make you healthier, does not make society
better, does not provide an actual service is their business model.
``South Florida man sentenced in $2.2 million Medicare fraud and
money laundering scheme . . .'' How many times have you picked up a
newspaper publication or gone online and heard the stories about
durable medical equipment fraud in South Florida. How is it possible it
still goes on in a time with the technology we have.
Let's see, what else do I have on this one. ``Pasadena clinic
receives $34 million in Medicare skin graft scam . . .'' Oh, this one
was fun. It turns out we spend about 4, 5 years here trying to stop
this, and they lobbied. It was one of the craziest things ever.
Companies that ended up getting indicted were here with their CEOs
lobbying us not to reform the system. This is where they would grow
skin--diabetic retinopathy, these things, you know, skin patches, and
all the sudden the price skyrocketed because the way the codes and the
billing worked.
Eventually CMS had to come in and do Congress' job for them because
Congress was so incompetent we couldn't actually do it. CMS came in and
said we are just stopping it. We are going to allow this handful of
companies to do it because at least they have some trusted history, and
they were screaming at us.
It turns out when we did the research on them, the number that were
absolute fraudsters--billions and billions of dollars were stolen. Once
again, the Medicare trust fund is gone in 6 years, and we are not
fixing these things.
Look, I am going to do a little skipping to the end because we are
running out of time. Please, give CMS some love and support because
working with my office we are finally starting to act like
professionals and do things that the private sector has been doing for
20 years.
Here is a simple example. How many of you have a credit card? How
many of you have ever used your credit card in a spot you are not
normally at? How many of you, the moment you start using the credit
card you start getting text messages and phone calls saying: Hey, is
this actually you? That is a data system from 20 years ago. You are
telling me that as we start to protect consumers and strengthen the
programs, as we are starting to actually build models to start to
protect and stop some of the bad payments, we don't have the
technology? Of course, we have the technology. It is off-the-shelf
technology.
We have a data person who has come to our office multiple times who
is an expert in stopping fraud in healthcare. He said: Do you realize
that there is a package that is $1,500 a month that would have stopped
that sober living home fraud in Arizona? We would have seen that things
don't match. The addresses don't match. The Social Security numbers
don't match. There are multiple billings that roll and roll and roll.
When you have $11.7 billion saved just by the Treasury Department
building a system that is sort of a do not pay list--let me give you an
example that is from 20-plus years ago. Twenty-plus years ago I was the
Maricopa County treasurer. We did this thing called positive pay, and
it wasn't new technology. Here are our payees, the people we are going
to pay checks to, we owe, because as the county treasurer you are the
guy issuing the checks to pay for things. And over here is the list.
When they didn't match, we didn't pay. That is 20-plus-year-old
technology. Treasury has started to do a version of that, and it has
already saved over $11 billion stopping fraudulent checks going out the
door.
[[Page H3907]]
I want to make an argument in my last couple minutes before I hit the
end of my time. What we do in government is insane. How many of you
would build a business model where I am going to pay 6 percent, 7
percent of my payments are going to be fraud, but don't worry about
that. Eventually we are going to hire a bunch of auditors. Then we will
hire some lawyers. And then we will hire some law enforcement. And then
we will try to go recover the money. Of course, we never actually
recover the money. And most of the time we never get to put someone in
prison, but we will get to do great press releases.
The age of hiring buildings full of auditors and lawyers is over. We
live in the time of technology where these checks should never, ever,
ever--the fraudulent checks should never get out the door. If you read
any of the data magazines or articles or talk to some of the experts we
are starting to develop here, we can catch this and stop it.
Mr. Speaker, the argument I am trying to make here, and if I haven't
done it particularly elegantly, I am trying, is we need the public to
believe we have finally woken up and become great stewards of their
money. The reality of the waste and fraud is huge, but the scale of our
borrowing, the scale of our debt, which is driven by our demographics--
next year, we are going to have fewer under 18 than we had 20 years ago
and double the number of 65 and up. In 28 months, over half of Federal
spending will go to our brothers and sisters who are 65 and up.
We are going to have to deal with the reality of our demographics and
our math. Maybe the public will believe us when we can also say we
stopped the scam artists. We stopped the missed design. We stopped the
way we have screwed up the model on Medicare, Medicaid, and so many of
the programs which were designed to help people and not enrich
fraudsters.
Mr. Speaker, I think we are up against time, so I yield back the
balance of my time.
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