My mom had a hip replacement and was given a brand new walker which she used once or twice. Nobody would take it back. Every hip replacement gets a brand new walker to use once or twice.
Her husband died tragically and the hospital billed Medicare for surgical services that were not performed. When she complained to Medicare, they encouraged her to ‘work with the hospital on that’. They didn’t care one whit.
So much of Medicare is just plain wasted. I would estimate 50%. IMO, it’s not the seniors who are getting excessive benefits, it’s the providers who are enriching themselves at everyone’s expense.
Don't knock the "providers", as a group. Sure, there are some who abuse the system -- but it's not the ordinary doctors, hospitals or services. It's a venal few -- I'd wager that 90% of the fraud is traceable to 2% of the providers.
That said, have you ever tried to reconcile a Medicare statement?
What you'll find is absolute chaos -- a total disconnect between real costs and arbitrary payments. The system defies rational accounting procedures; instead, it is an incoherent fabrication that nobody truly understands. Including those who are in charge of administering it -- either on the professional side or the government bureaucracy.
Like most government programs, it's a structure tailor-made for stealing.
Under the Ryan plan, with government vouchers available for the purchase of private health insurance, thus placing insurance companies in charge of administering the program, I would expect Medicare fraud to immediately drop by 90%.