On one of my many trips to the Division of Medical Assistance (DMA), I noticed two interesting items: (1) The flower vases at DMA are filled with paperclips, which securely anchor artificial flowers; and (2) A flyer reads, “Thinking Medicaid fraud and abuse “don’t hurt anyone” is just wrong! Every dollar wasted or stolen is a dollar that could have been used on provide health care for someone who needs it and follows the rules.”

The first item, the flower vases filled with paperclips and artificial flowers, I chalked up to resourcefulness.  Someone at DMA wanted a little bit of decor…a bit of color…but, definitely did not want to spend our taxpayers’ money on a bouquet of flowers, which would just die and need to be replaced, or a piece of art, which could be construed as a poor use of taxpayers’ money.  Instead, this resourceful person used office supplies and a cheap silk flower to decorate DMA.

The second item, the flyer,I chalked up to good propaganda. I mean, everyone wants to discourage Medicaid fraud, right? Obviously, Medicaid fraud costs taxpayers lots of money.  Obviously, when a provider commits Medicaid fraud, we, as taxpayers, think….”How dare they! That fraudulent provider took money that could have been used on a Medicaid recipient!”

But…what about the Medicaid dollars being wasted on paying inept, third-party contractors erroneously conducting post-payment reviews and putting many Medicaid providers out-of-business by billing them for crazy, large, extrapolated amounts of money that they supposedly owe back to the government? Or erroneously conducting prepayment reviews? Or mis-managing behavioral health?  What about THOSE Medicaid dollars that could have gone to services for Medicaid recipients????

Think about it.  We are paying these third-party contractors with Medicaid dollars…Tax dollars.

We spend approximately 36 million, tax dollars a day on Medicaid.

When I first heard that statistic, I thought, “Wow! There are a lot of people on Medicaid.” Which is not completely incorrect.  There are a lot of people on Medicaid.  Approximately 1.5 million North Carolinians. But, the problem is that the $36 million a day does not go to treatment and/or medical services for Medicaid recipients. Much of that $36 million a day goes to third-party contractors who may or may not be conducting their jobs appropriately, efficiently, or, even, correctly.

Say I apply for and get a job at the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME). My salary would be (I don’t know whether CCME makes any of its own money from private money, but), at least, partially, funded by federal and state taxes.  Which means, if I were hired by CCME as a Medicaid auditor, theoretically, my audit results would be or should be available to the public.  As one who receives taxpayer money, my findings should be available to the taxpayers…right?  So if I were doing a crappy job as a Medicaid auditor, I should be accountable (for my crappiness) to all taxpayers. Just like the resourceful DMA employee would have been accountable if he or she had bought an expensive piece of art instead of filling flower vases with paper clips and cheap silk flowers.

Going back to the “accountability to taxpayers” theme, shouldn’t the third-party contractors receiving federal and state Medicaid taxpayer money be accountable to any interested taxpayer?

And shouldn’t the taxpayers in NC be concerned if these third-party contractors are not doing their jobs appropriately, efficiently, or, even, correctly?

And the $36 million/day…shouldn’t we be concerned that this $36 million/day is not going to service Medicaid recipients, but, instead, much of the $36 million/day is going to the salaries for people who work at these third-party contractors and who are not conducting their jobs appropriately, efficiently, or, even correctly.

If I could boycott paying state and federal taxes until the taxes were appropriately used, I would.  But I believe I would end up in jail. Maybe we need a 2013 Boston Tea Party.

Remember the Boston Tea Party?

The Sons of Liberty, a political group in Boston during the American Revolution, was really mad about England taxing the colonists’ tea. They were ticked off about England’s Tea Act, which was passed in 1773. Colonists objected to the Tea Act because they believed that it violated their fundamental rights (remember, the violation could not have been considered a violation of constitutional rights, as the Constitution was not ratified until 1787)  The slogan for the Boston Tea Party was “No taxation without representation.”  Or, in other words, we can be taxed only by our own elected representatives and not by England because no colonist is a member of Parliament in England. So the colonists dumped a shipload of tea into the ocean to make a point.

Today, if a group of “radicalists” (because that is what they would be called nowadays) dumped a shipload of Medicaid funds into the ocean off the Boston harbor that group would, most likely, be jailed for stealing, destruction of property, trespassing, and probably contamination of the waters (if that were a criminal act), but definitely sued civilly for monetary damages.

Personally, I expect people receiving compensation from my tax dollars to (a) be accountable; (b) do their job appropriately; (c) do their job efficiently; and (d) do their job correctly.

How do we determine whether these third-party contractors are conducting their jobs (a) be accountable; (b) do their job appropriately; (c) do their job efficiently; and (d) do their job correctly?

If I hired a painter, how would I determine that painter were doing his or her job (a) appropriately; (b) efficiently; and (c) correctly? Answer: Supervision. If I told my painter I wanted my bathroom painted red and he or she painted the bathroom green, I would (a) fire him or her; and (b) sue for breach of contract (seriously….WHO would want to work for ME???).

Yet, the State of North Carolina hires companies that do not conduct the jobs for which the company is hired appropriately, efficiently, or correctly, and, yet, NC does not fire the company…does not sue the company.  It’s almost as if….if I hire someone else to do it, then I am not to blame.  It’s as if….I had an associate who completely missed an appeal deadline, and, instead of saying, “Hey, I am the partner…I am the one in charge….Blame me…,” instead I said, “Whoa there, client, it’s not my fault. Blame my associate.”

Someone has to be accountable!

Had my previously-mentioned, resourceful, DMA employee bought a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers for decoration for the DMA office every week with taxpayers’ money or an Edvard Erikson statue of “The Little Mermaid” for decoration, someone would have been accountable, most likely, my (then non-resourceful) DMA employee.

Yet, DMA hires third-party contractors that are not conducting their jobs appropriately, efficiently, or correctly, and DMA says, “Whoa there, taxpayer, it’s not my fault. Blame the third-party contractor.”

And I think, “How dare they! That inappropriate, inefficient, and inaccurate third-party contractor took money that could have been used on a Medicaid recipient!”