Massive Medicaid Fraud Exposed: PsychRights Calls On Members Of Congress For Assistance

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 20 May 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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In letters to Senators Charles Grassley and Herb Kohl, and Representatives Henry Waxman, Bart Stupak , John Dingell & Barney Frank, the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights) has exposed massive Medicaid Fraud. While working on PsychRights v. Alaska , its lawsuit to prohibit the State of Alaska from the largely ineffective and always harmful psychiatric drugging of children and youth, PsychRights "discovered that it is illegal for the vast bulk of these prescriptions to be reimbursed by Medicaid."

Extrapolating from Alaska Medicaid Claims, PsychRights calculates over $2 Billion in fraudulent claims are being paid nationally every year for drug treatments Congress has explicitly prohibited, and it is probably well over $4.5 Billion, based on the total amount paid by Medicaid. Stating the carnage caused by the practice will be "recognized as the largest iatrogenic (doctor caused) public health disaster in history," PsychRights analogized the situation, "to our current economic debacle caused by unrestrained Wall Street greed," but noted, it is much worse, " because children's and youth's future, health, and even lives, have been sacrificed and continue to be sacrificed on the altar of corporate profits."

Also, "because most current child psychiatrists no longer know how to help children and youth without resort to the drugs" PsychRights suggests "the savings be used to fund approaches that have been proven to be safe and effective."

Source
PsychRights

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