Dow Jones attempts to uncover Medicare payment data
Dow Jones & Co. has filed court papers to overturn an injunction obtained by the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1979, which prevents the public from knowing how much taxpayer money individual doctors receive from the Medicare program.
The New York City-based news company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, filed the paper in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida claiming that this injunction prevents The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations from fully investigating and exposing abuses in the $500 billion system.
The legal action followed a series of Wall Street Journal articles last year, "Secrets of the System," that highlighted suspicious billing, potential abuses of the system and the government's role in policing Medicare payments. The injunction constrained the investigation because it was limited to a subset of the data, argued Dow Jones.
AMA President Cecil B. Wilson, MD, in response to the filings, stated: "Physicians, like all Americans, have the right to privacy and due process, and should not suffer the consequences of having false or misleading conclusions drawn from complex Medicare data that has significant limitations.
"Physicians who provide care to Medicare patients are already subject to widespread governmental oversight, including scrutiny by Medicare carriers, the Office of Inspector General and 53 quality improvement organizations. These federal agencies and contractors have access to the full-range of Medicare data and are aggressively ferreting out improper claims.”
The New York City-based news company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, filed the paper in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida claiming that this injunction prevents The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations from fully investigating and exposing abuses in the $500 billion system.
The legal action followed a series of Wall Street Journal articles last year, "Secrets of the System," that highlighted suspicious billing, potential abuses of the system and the government's role in policing Medicare payments. The injunction constrained the investigation because it was limited to a subset of the data, argued Dow Jones.
AMA President Cecil B. Wilson, MD, in response to the filings, stated: "Physicians, like all Americans, have the right to privacy and due process, and should not suffer the consequences of having false or misleading conclusions drawn from complex Medicare data that has significant limitations.
"Physicians who provide care to Medicare patients are already subject to widespread governmental oversight, including scrutiny by Medicare carriers, the Office of Inspector General and 53 quality improvement organizations. These federal agencies and contractors have access to the full-range of Medicare data and are aggressively ferreting out improper claims.”