Tricare should have tried better accounting

Pentagon Health Care Faces Fraud Threat

Defense Dept.'s Health Program Vulnerable To Scams Overseas, Report Warns

MADISON, Wis., Dec. 15, 2008


(AP) The system for providing health care to Department of Defense employees remains vulnerable to fraud overseas, years after a Philippines company swindled taxpayers out of $100 million, a recent report warned.

Pentagon officials say they are taking several steps to implement tighter controls over the program in the coming months and years. But a spokesman acknowledged this week that identifying and correcting problems in the Tricare program "is time consuming and complex" given its mission to provide benefits all over the globe.

The Sept. 30 report by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General found lax controls in paying claims to overseas doctors and hospitals who treat active and non-active duty military personnel.

Overlapping responsibilities for claims meant Department of Defense employees, military contractors and military bases accidentally made duplicate payments for the same services, auditors found.

Auditors said they could not determine how many duplicate payments were made because records were poorly kept. However, they said their limited review identified 90 instances between 2004 and 2006 in which multiple organizations paid for the same health care benefits, totaling $50,000 in overpayments.
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