Category: Bulldog Extra
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Fraud and billing mistakes cost Medicare – and taxpayers – tens of billions last year
By Fred Schulte /b>
Kaiser Health News
Federal health officials made more than $16 billion in improper payments to private Medicare Advantage health plans last year and need to crack down on billing errors by the insurers, a top congressional auditor testified Wednesday. -
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6135 SEEN/
Headlight recall turns high beams on GM’s safety vow
By Christopher Jensen
FairWarning
Three years ago, General Motors chief executive Mary Barra vowed a new pro-safety attitude after admitting that for years the automaker had concealed an ignition-switch defect now linked to at least 124 deaths. But today federal safety regulators are investigating whether GM has been adequately handling a 429,000 vehicle recall for the sudden failure of low-beam headlights. -
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6411 SEEN/
Gridlock on Anti-Lock Brakes Baffles Motorcycle Safety Advocates
By Rick Schmitt and Paul Feldman
FairWarning
After a long downward trend, U.S. traffic deaths are on the rise again, and a key factor is the stubbornly high fatality toll among some of the most exposed people on the road: motorcyclists. Nevertheless, federal regulators have balked at requiring a safety measure that, many experts say, could save hundreds of bikers’ lives every year. -
A moving story: Crooked movers victimize customers and usually get away with it
By Brian Joseph
FairWarning.org
About 35 million Americans will make local or long-distance moves over the next year, and many are at risk of coming into contact with a scammer. The problem, however, is particularly acute for moves made across state lines. States regulate local moves within their borders, but the federal government oversees interstate moves – and it devotes few resources to regulation and enforcement. -
The cash-rich pharmaceutical lobby and the rising cost of drugs for Medicare seniors
By Stuart Silverstein
FairWarning.org
When the Republican-controlled Congress approved a landmark program in 2003 to help seniors buy prescription drugs, it slapped on an unusual restriction: The federal government was barred from negotiating cheaper prices for those medicines. Instead, the job of holding down costs was outsourced to the insurance companies delivering the subsidized new coverage, known as Medicare Part D.
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