[Source: Health and Life Sciences Law Daily, November 14, 2007 - AHLA]
USA Today (11/14, Wolf) reports, "More than 30,000 Medicaid providers in seven states failed to pay more than $1 billion in federal taxes last year, but the government can't trim healthcare payments in order to collect," according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). "In its fifth report to a Senate panel investigating tax cheats that do business with the government," the GAO estimates that "about five percent of Medicaid providers in the seven states cheat on their taxes -- particularly payroll taxes collected from employees." According to USA Today, "Some of the more flagrant violators had multimillion dollar homes, along with fancy cars and boats, the report says. Others were guilty of patient abuse or other healthcare violations." However, the report did not identify the doctors or providers.
The AP (11/14) adds that the GAO report examined providers in "California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas." Currently, "federal law does not prevent healthcare providers who owe back taxes from enrolling in Medicaid." And, officials at the CMS "said such a requirement could make it harder for states to provide healthcare to poor people." Meanwhile, the GAO's report stated "that if the IRS had a system to levy part of the Medicaid payments, it could have collected between $70 million and $160 million last year."
