[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 5 (Monday, February 2, 1998)]
[Pages 127-128]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

January 24, 1998

    Good morning. Today I want to talk about our continuing efforts to 
fight fraud and abuse in the Medicare system.
    For more than 30 years, Medicare has helped us to honor our oldest 
obligations to our parents and grandparents. And since I took office, 
our administration has made strengthening Medicare one of our top 
priorities. The balanced budget I signed into law last summer will 
extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund for at least a decade. But to 
ensure that Medicare is as strong in the 21st century as it has been in 
the 20th, we must also do more to root out fraud and abuse.
    Medicare fraud cheats beneficiaries and taxpayers out of billions of 
dollars every single year. It undermines the strength of this vitally 
important program. Since 1993, we've assigned more Federal prosecutors 
and investigators to fight Medicare fraud than ever before, increasing 
fraud convictions by a record 240 percent. All told, we've saved 
taxpayers over $20 billion. And the Kennedy-Kassebaum legislation I 
signed into law in 1996 has given us new resources and tools to 
investigate, prosecute, and convict dishonest providers and medical 
suppliers.
    On Monday, I'll send to Congress a report that shows just how 
effective those new tools have been. I'm proud to say that in the last 
year alone we've collected nearly $1 billion in fines and settlements 
for health care fraud. Money that would have lined the pockets of scam 
artists is now going instead to preserve the Medicare Trust Fund and to 
improve health for millions of Americans. We've increased prosecutions 
for health care fraud by more than 60 percent, and we've stopped health 
care fraud before it starts by keeping nearly twice as many bad 
providers out of the system.
    Now, make no mistake, Medicare fraud is a real crime, committed by 
real criminals intent on stealing from the system and cheating our most 
vulnerable citizens. Let me just give you one example.
    In New York City, a Russian immigrant, believed by Federal 
investigators to be part of an organized crime ring, defrauded Medicare 
of $1.5 million by selling substandard medical supplies to elderly 
people and billing Medicare for premium goods. We shut him down and put 
him in jail, but he never should have been a Medicare supplier in the 
first place.
    Last week, I put in place new regulations that require medical 
suppliers to post surety bonds to prove they're legitimate, solvent 
businesses. And to further ensure that medical suppliers aren't 
defrauding Medicare, the Department of Health and Human Services will 
expand its site inspections of medical supply companies all over the 
country.
    But we must do more to crack down on fraud and abuse in the Medicare 
system. The balanced budget I'll submit to Congress next month will 
include antifraud and waste provisions that will save Medicare more than 
$2 billion. First, it will eliminate overpayment for certain drugs by 
making sure doctors receive no more and no less than the price they pay 
for the medicines they give Medicare patients. Second, it will ensure 
that when fly-by-night providers go bankrupt, Medicare is at the top of 
the list of debts to be repaid. And finally, it will bring down costs by 
allowing Medicare to purchase goods and services at a competitive price.
    We will only win the fight against fraud and abuse in the Medicare 
system with the help of the American people. We know that patients and 
honest providers want to help crack down on fraud and abuse. Starting 
next month we'll make it easier for them to do so, with a toll-free 
hotline that will now appear on every statement Medicare sends out to 
every beneficiary it serves.

[[Page 128]]

    With these steps, we're making sure that the Medicare system, which 
has served our parents and grandparents so well, will also serve our 
children and grandchildren well into the 21st century.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 5:13 p.m. on January 23 in the 
Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on January 
24.