CBO investigating feasibility of using healthcare fraud savings to fund Trump’s war

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), tasked with gathering data and assessing the effectiveness of federal policy, is looking into whether or not fraud-fighting efforts from the Trump administration—which in particular have been centered around healthcare—have been successful enough to warrant additional resources going to the efforts. 

Further, the agency is curious to know if fraud-fighting can reclaim and save the government enough money to actually be spent on other services. 

In a report, Politico cited comments from Budget Director Phillip Swagel, where he told reporters that the agency is actively studying the efforts by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take on fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid, the two biggest federal health programs.

To date, the Trump administration claims its efforts have been wildly successful, saving taxpayers $5.56 billion. However, those numbers are disputed, as many of the efforts to fight fraud in the system came before the ramp up last year, where the U.S. Department of Justice began coordinating task forces to root out more fraud in the system, most of which comes from private companies and individuals abusing safety net funds meant for Americans. 

Further, fraud investigation carries a cost, both in terms of money and manpower. 

The CBO said it is currently researching the effectiveness of this crackdown at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency responsible for Medicare reimbursement and Medicaid fund distribution. 

Also, what new resources could CMS need to be even more efficient? That’s a question the CBO intends to answer, though as Politico points out, it isn’t clear what more resources would specifically mean. 

Money for war?

In the backdrop is a $350 million request from President Donald Trump for more funding for the war with Iran, something he’s asked Congress to come up with. Could savings from healthcare fraud fill in the gap? That question has yet to be answered, but Trump has floated the idea. 

Meanwhile, the CBO wonders aloud if CMS could create a “war room” of its own, where new resources are coordinated to find, investigate and prosecute healthcare fraudsters. 

The question remains: Is it all worth it? 

For more, read Politico’s report at the link below.