New Medicare Program Would Protect Taxpayers

A bill has been introduced that would strengthen the Medicare program and protect taxpayer dollars.

The Better Efficiency and Administrative Simplification Act was introduced Thursday, which would protect Medicare beneficiaries. The bill allows recipients to view their summaries by email - as opposed to postal mail - which supposedly saves taxpayers millions of dollars while reducing government waste.

"The government wastes a significant amount of money and resources printing and mailing statements that many beneficiaries would rather receive electronically. This simple fix is an important step in helping to reduce the administrative burden that is found in so many areas of our health care system. It also helps root out fraud by allowing beneficiaries to more quickly identify fraudulent billing," said bill co-sponsor Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell in an e-mailed press release Thursday.

The bill allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to grant their recipients access to their notices more frequently in order to reduce fraudulent billing practices.

The CMS can also increase the length of contract years for Medicare Administrative Contractors to further reduce the risk of waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system.