The Medicare Identification Card, which evidently presents the SSN of the person it belongs to, may be undergoing a change to help prevent identity theft. However, according to insight from CMS over at USA Today, if the change were to be implemented, it will cost approximately $843 million.
Should we really be spending money, time and resources on such an issue? Yes, identity theft is a huge problem, but why wasn't this thought of years ago, before the change would cost such a significant sum?
". . . why wasn't this thought of years ago, before the change would cost such a significant sum?" You do realize that this question betrays your age.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to choose to take that as a compliment, because many other thoughts that cross my mind betray my age as well.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the statistics for medical fraud, you would realize that spending one-time $843 million is totally worth it. Healthcare fraud is costing American taxpayers up to $234 billion annually...so what is $843 millions comparing to that? Less that 1% from annual fraud amount...Please look at the following for comparison: http://www.govhealthit.com/news/glimpse-inside-234-billion-world-medical-id-theft
ReplyDeleteWell, yes, the one-time cost is worth it. My point Anna, is why didn't they think ahead and simply not include the social security numbers on the card? It would have made it much more difficult for fraud to occur in these cases.
ReplyDeleteThat would raise level for identity theft, I think..Maybe that is why...
ReplyDelete