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Tag Archives: Medicaid
War on Women, Budget Edition
Latest GOP Budget Marks Latest Attack on Women
Budgets are statements of values and priorities. Based on the GOP’s latest budget, apparently the interests of women are not a priority.
Here’s a look at how the GOP budget is bad for women and children.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
No, lowering taxes doesn’t grow the economy.
South Carolina GOP lawmaker suggest they blocked Medicaid expansion because Obama is black.
Even Paul Ryan admits that we’re not facing a debt crisis.
Latest GOP budget gives millionaires at least a $200,000 tax cut.
It’s time for the Obama administration to lift its secrecy on drones.
The new pope’s views on LGBT equality.
Everything you need to know about the Steubenville rape trial.
President Obama evolves even further on marriage equality.
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They Deserve a Vote
Background Checks 101
Later this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up four gun violence prevention measures. One of them is an important bill to strengthen the background check system and mandate universal background checks so we can keep guns out of the hands of people that should not have them.
Check out this infographic for everything you need to know about how universal background checks can help us prevent gun violence.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
The latest embarrassment for the Daily Caller.
Report: number of radical anti-government groups reached “all-time high” in 2012.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died.
Poll: immigration now top issue for Latinos, who are following the immigration debate closely.
Everything you need to know about judicial nominations.
The Daily Caller’s brand of “entertainment.”
Jeb Bush followed up his triple-flip on immigration today with a flip-flop on Medicaid.
The House GOP is going after birth control — again.
OOPS: Dow hits record despite pundit predictions that the stock market would plunge under Obama.
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Beware: The Scooter Store
David Sell, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Friday, February 22, 2013, 3:01 AM
In TV ads, the Scooter Store suggests to seniors and others needing motorized scooters and wheelchairs that they can be had for almost no cost because the company will handle all the messy paperwork with insurers, particularly Medicare.
Wednesday and Thursday brought another example that nothing is free. Somebody – often taxpayers – has to pay.
About 150 state and federal law enforcement officers raided the company’s headquarters in a San Antonio suburb. The action was another phase in an ongoing health-care fraud investigation of the Scooter Store, which has an outlet in the Philadelphia region.
A spokesman for the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicare and Medicaid, would say only that the agency “executed a search warrant at several locations of the Scooter Store and that we were part of a multiagency task force.”
The San Antonio Express-News reported that OIG was joined by the FBI and the Texas Attorney General‘s Medicaid fraud unit.
The Scooter Store’s Philadelphia outlet is in Trainer, Delaware County. The manager declined to give his name and referred a reporter to the national office, which did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for comment.
“This raid is a welcome step toward cracking down on waste and fraud in Medicare payments for motorized wheelchairs involving the Scooter Store,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) said in a statement. “I have urged action to stop abusive overpayments for such devices – costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and preying on seniors with deceptive sales pitches.”
The cost of health care is a huge component in local, state, and national debates about how to solve budget challenges. In recent years, the federal government has increased efforts to scrutinize billing practices and thwart fraud, with durable medical devices being one area of particular concern.
Blumenthal is among the congressional leaders who have urged federal authorities to crack down on what they view as deceptive advertising that results in some angry seniors and bills for all taxpayers.
As Blumenthal noted, this is not the first time the Scooter Store has faced allegations of fraud.
In 2007, the company settled a civil suit with the Justice Department by paying $4 million and forgoing $13 million in Medicare claims after the government alleged the company submitted false claims for power wheelchairs that, among other things, beneficiaries did not want, did not need, or could not use.
The company’s five-year corporate integrity agreement with the government was due to expire in 2012 but remains open. The company was also supposed to reimburse the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) $19.5 million for overpayments between 2009 and 2011, according to the San Antonio newspaper. However, senators criticized the CMS for not pushing for more reimbursements, based on an outside audit of the company’s operations.
The company’s website has a specific category of products called “Medicare-Reimbursable Power Chairs,” with several listed for $3,699. It posed the question many seniors would ask: Is the power chair or scooter entirely covered by my insurance?
The answer had a few caveats, including the Medicare requirement to meet with a doctor to determine mobility needs. It also said: “If you qualify, Medicare may cover up to 80 percent of the cost of your power chair. Your supplemental insurance may pay the remaining 20 percent. In most cases, our customers pay little to nothing for their power chairs.”
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130222_Raids_mark_latest_turn_in_Scooter_Store_fraud_probe.html#ixzz2LgKVCXjL
Watch sports videos you won’t find anywhere elseDavid Sell, Inquirer Staff Writer
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Weekly Address: Averting the Sequester and Finding a Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction
Weekly Address: Averting the Sequester and Finding a Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction
President Obama urges Congress to act to avoid a series of harmful and automatic cuts — called a sequester — from going into effect that would hurt our economy and the middle class and threaten thousands of American jobs. The President urges Congress to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction that makes investments in areas that help us grow and cuts what we don’t need.
Watch this week’s Weekly Address.
In Case You Missed It
Here’s a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov:
Common-sense Reforms: On Monday, President Obama traveled Midwest to Minneapolis to speak with local police, community leaders and folks who have experienced gun violence in their family. The President firmly believes “law enforcement and other community leaders must have a seat at the table.”
With mounting support for universal background checks, President Obama is driving Congress to listen and take action. While pressing for background checks, the President did not let up.
“We shouldn’t stop there. We should restore the ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines,” said President Obama. “And that deserves a vote in Congress — because weapons of war have no place on our streets, or in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers.”
Watch the full speech here and read our blog post tracking the two weeks since President Obama released his plan for reducing gun violence.
Sequester Delay: On Tuesday, President Obama talked about the sequester and urged Congress to act before automatic spending cuts are put into place starting March 1. If a new deal is not struck by March 1, automatic spending cuts, which are known as the sequester will begin.
Billions of dollars in cuts would hinder education and research, along with defense spending to name a few. President Obama called for “a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms” as he is prepared to work with republicans to strike a deal for the American people.
Newest Cabinet Nominee: On Wednesday, President Obama nominated Sally Jewell to head the Interior Department. If the current CEO of the outdoor retail giant REI is confirmed, she will play a critical role in protecting our country’s land and natural resources. Along with an enthusiasm for the outdoors, she carries with her experience as a former oil engineer and commercial banker, which will be vital in dealing with our energy sector and creating jobs for Americans.
Jewell is very excited to work with the Interior and “sharing their hopes and their dreams for our public lands, our resources, our people — especially our first people — our history and our culture.”
Revamped Immigration Page: On Wednesday, the White House released a new issue section laying out what is at stake for comprehensive immigration reform. The President’s proposal calls for the strengthening of our borders, cracking down on companies that hire undocumented workers, creating a path to earned citizenship and streamlining our legal immigration system.
- Sign up for the latest immigration updates from the White House.
- Find all the facts on the immigration page.
- Watch the President’s Las Vegas speech on comprehensive immigration reform.
National Prayer Breakfast: On Thursday, President Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton. Citing the importance of faith in his life, the President discussed the comfort Scripture gave President Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I thought about their humility, and how we don’t seem to live that out the way we should, every day, even when we give lip service to it,” said the President.
The biggest hope from the breakfast was Americans, especially our public servants, should embrace cooperation and humility to avoid the constant bipartisan rhetoric in Washington. Watch the full speech here.
SOTU Preparation: This Tuesday, the President will speak to the country through the annual State of the Union address. President Obama will discuss the most demanding issues facing our country and offer solutions to tackle these challenges. On February 12, at 9 pm ET head to our State of the Union page to watch a live enhanced version with charts, graphs, and data to coincide with his address. Before Tuesday, check out our page to view the 2012 enhanced version and discover new ways you can participate in this year’s State of the Union.
Be a Seed for Change 
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