Dead people have done a lot of voting in this country. Apparently, they run up a lot of medical bills too.

The system relies on the honesty (ha!) of health care providers. They bill insurance companies and Medicare, and the bills get paid out of those bottomless pockets.

Most LIVE patients aren't in a position to know what medical services they've actually received, and DEAD patients sure aren't going to know. It's a situation just made for fraud, and I'm sure it's going on everywhere.

Letting health care providers bill Medicare for whatever "procedures" they claim to have done is like putting a drug addict in charge of a pharmacy.

Most people wouldn't care enough about Medicare and insurance companies being ripped off to even talk about it like we are here. There's NO incentive for me to cause a big stink by saying my mom didn't receive services, when two doctors and a nursing home are prepared to swear she did receive them.

This kind of fraud became inevitable when government and insurance companies got involved in medicine years ago. If it wasn't for that, medical charges would be a small fraction of what they are now - and people like me wouldn't stand for fraud and overcharges if we had to pay out-of-pocket.

Because of government interference, the health care system is broken - and it's going to get a lot worse if government takes it all over.