| ■ U.S. Said to Spend Millions for Questionable Cancer Data | 06.09.01 |
| U.S. cancer specialists last year received about $275 million from the federal government and Medicare beneficiaries as part of a Bush administration research project that many experts say won't produce any useful information, the Associated Press reported. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services paid participating chemotherapy doctors $130 each time they submitted information about a Medicare patient's pain, fatigue and nausea. Patients were charged $26 each time their doctors billed Medicare for submitting the information. During the year-long project, the median amount paid to each doctor was $23,000. However, some physicians received much more money. The top 10 billers received more than $270,000 each, including a Florida oncologist who was paid $625,803 and a Kansas doctor who received $507,563, the AP reported. The goal of the project was to collect data to improve cancer patient care. In a report to be released Wednesday, the inspector general for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department cast doubt on the integrity of the data submitted by the doctors and questioned whether the government money had been well-spent. "We identified numerous anomalies and gaps in the data and collection methods," the report said. It also noted that a commission that advises Congress on Medicare issues found that many oncologists felt the project wouldn't produce any useful research findings and would not help improve patient care, the AP reported. Taxpayers and Medicare patients were "bilked," because they paid for services that the oncologists were already supposed to provide, said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. YahooHealth |