Cato-at-liberty recently blogged on the disclosure that much-heralded Medicare “savings” were actually the result of covering up instances of endemic waste and fraud. The blog perfectly captures the hilarious inanity which keeps broken programs like this going.
Short summary: After the cover-up is exposed, it is also revealed that Medicare’s attempt to reduce the avenue by which fraud occurs in the first place was thwarted by industry lobbying in Congress. Congresscritters are indignant, not at themselves (of course), but at Medicare. One calls the agency “incompetent,” but this is no barrier to him forcing all of us to join the program.
Fun fact: the Medicare Trustees estimate that the program’s unfunded liabilities through 2075 are $40 trillion, a figure, believe it or not, that only keeps rising every year.
Making My Way 