    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [December 13, 1997]
    [Pages 1759-1760]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    December 13, 1997

        Good morning. This morning I'd like to give you a progress report on
    our fight against waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare system.
        Medicare is more than just a program; it reflects our values. It's
    one way we honor our parents and our grandparents and protect our
    families across the generations. This past summer we took historic
    action to strengthen Medicare by improving benefits, more mammograms,
    cancer screenings, major improvements in diabetes care, expanding
    choices for recipients in health plans, and extending the life of the
    Trust Fund to at least the year 2010. I have also named four
    distinguished experts to a bipartisan commission that will find ways to
    ensure that Medicare will be able to serve baby boomers and our children
    as faithfully as it has served our parents.
        But to protect Medicare and the fundamental values it represents, we
    also must vigorously fight the waste, fraud, and abuse that is clearly
    in the system, activities that diminish our ability to provide high-
    quality, affordable care for some of our most vulnerable citizens.
    Medicare fraud costs billions of dollars every year, amounting to an
    unfair fraud tax on all Americans and undermining our ability to care
    for those most in need. Taxpayers deserve to expect that every cent of
    hard-earned money is spent on quality medical care for deserving
    patients.
        I am proud of what we've already accomplished to crack down on abuse
    in Medicare. Since 1993 we have assigned more Federal prosecutors and
    FBI agents to fight health care fraud, and as a result, convictions have
    gone up 240 percent. We've saved $20 billion in health care claims. Two
    years ago the Department of Health and Human Services launched Operation
    Restore Trust. Already it has identified $23 in fines and settlements
    for every dollar invested in the program. Our historic balanced budget
    agreement last summer gives us an array of new weapons to help keep scam
    artists and fly-by-night health care providers out of Medicare in the
    first place. And earlier this fall I announced new actions to root out
    fraud and

    [[Page 1760]]

    abuse in the mushrooming home health industry, from a moratorium on new
    home health agencies entering the system to a doubling of audits to a
    new certification renewal process.
        But we must do more. Sometimes the waste and abuses aren't even
    illegal; they're just embedded in the practices of the system. Last week
    the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that our Medicare
    program has been systematically overpaying doctors and clinics for
    prescription drugs, overpayments that cost taxpayers hundreds of
    millions of dollars. Such waste is simply unacceptable.
        Now, these overpayments occur because Medicare reimburses doctors
    according to the published average wholesale price, the so-called
    sticker price, for drugs. Few doctors, however, actually pay the full
    sticker price. In fact, some pay just one-tenth of the published price.
    That's why I'm sending to Congress again the same legislation I sent
    last year, legislation that will ensure that doctors are reimbursed no
    more and no less than the price they themselves pay for the medicines
    they give Medicare patients. While a more modest version of this bill
    passed last summer, the savings to taxpayers is not nearly enough. My
    bill will save $700 million over the next 5 years, and I urge Congress
    to pass it.
        There must be no room for waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare. Only
    by putting a permanent stop to it can we honor our parents, protect our
    taxpayers, and build a world-class health care system for the 21st
    century.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the
    White House.