You're watching...
American Enterprise Institute Resident Fellow Dr. Scott Gottleib on the risks that the health-care law will lead to more fraud in Medicaid and worse c...
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
Just tonight about the government's ability to manage waste fraud abuse it manages it well and increases it but this time we're talking about health care programs.
48 people from five states were just busted.
For reselling Medicaid drugs on the black market.
Taxpayers of course on the hook if this is -- Medicaid operates -- can imagine what it'll be like when obamacare kicks and let's ask doctor Scott Gottlieb an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow.
And former senior policy advisor at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are you surprised.
Not really this programs really ripe with abuse this was particularly brazen I think that's what was shocking what was happening as they they were buying drugs from people who actually need these medicines is -- vital medicines for things like HIV and schizophrenia.
And reselling them to middlemen who had been selling them to legitimate pharmacies so the middlemen who have purchasing these drugs from the patients had to know what they were doing when they're resigning -- -- Arms since that's ridiculous I I assume that it happened here in New York it's happening all over the country.
Well -- lot of waste fraud abuse in the Medicaid program New York has a particularly generous program so I think it's particularly vulnerable to this kind of abuse the problem is that all the things that.
Would cut down on fraud and abuse that things that the politicians don't wanna pursue because it would limit eligibility would make a part of people who.
Claim eligibility for the program.
And also might come for physicians and since they pay doctors so little to -- to provide Medicaid Services they don't wanna provide oversight that we did.
Chapter -- can't fix the problem because you can't fix the -- exactly -- -- about obamacare now Medicaid is a program that's gonna drive much of what happens with obamacare.
What do you make of the future of Medicaid when it becomes the keystone really the centerpiece of Obama can.
-- -- -- the projections in obamacare is up to a quarter the American population went beyond Medicaid and the -- -- with Medicaid isn't just the waste fraud and abuse but the quality care that patients get under there is now a plethora of literature medical literature that shows that patients who -- on Medicaid.
Experience worse outcomes relative to other insured populations even after you control for the variables.
That you know cause patients on Medicaid to have core health outcomes like.
Things -- so just how here and let's be clear it's not just waste fraud abuse that's a problem.
It's pork care that's the bigger issue in my view the fact that people on Medicaid can't get access to doctors take an axis of specialty care because -- Reimbursements so little so it's a comprehensive benefit.
It's -- presumably pays for everything but when you go to use that Medicaid card you can't get access to a lot of things.
So the fact we're gonna put all these new people into the program.
What's going to be the impact of that it'll make it far -- mean a lot of people were -- trying to fix Medicaid before we try to expand it but.
Obamacare expensive report fixes it.
How would -- get fixed.
-- give us states more flexibility you have to back away from the notion that this is gonna be a very comprehensive benefit try to focus resources on the people who need it most.
Rather than trying to spend a fixed amount of dollars very broadly try to focus the dollar some patients who really need to benefit.
Is it flexible.
I think it is fixable but I think the states the one so gonna have to fix isn't Obama's trying to fix -- from the federal government.
Yeah they they wanna do everything from Washington they're not -- thrilled with state control.
Doctor Scott Gottlieb thanks for coming on tonight absolute pleasure having you let us know next time your.
