NBC Nightly News - 1996-02-14 - 1 of 2

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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] The fleecing of America tonight. A new

[0:02] report on the abuses of Medicare.

[0:04] Billions of dollars in unnecessary

[0:06] expenses. The devastation in the Pacific

[0:08] Northwest. President Clinton personally

[0:10] delivers promises of aid. In

[0:13] presidential politics, grandma's out.

[0:15] Buchanan getting a closer look as he

[0:17] stakes out his corner. And NBC News in

[0:20] depth on this Valentine's Day. What's

[0:23] the price of love and relationships in

[0:25] the age of AIDS?

[0:27] From NBC News, this is NBC Nightly News

[0:32] with Tom Bro.

[0:34] >> Good evening. Medicare and fraud.

[0:36] Tonight, there's a stunning report on

[0:38] how Medicare, one of the most important

[0:40] and generous programs in this country,

[0:42] turns out to be easy pickings for

[0:43] hospitals, doctors, and healthcare

[0:45] suppliers. This year, as congressional

[0:47] Republicans and the White House are

[0:49] arguing about who's the real champion of

[0:50] Medicare, it is clear that while those

[0:53] political feuds are underway, Medicare

[0:55] is being ripped off. massive fraud.

[0:57] Today, a health industry executive went

[0:59] behind a shield to testify on Capitol

[1:01] Hill that Medicare fraud is widespread,

[1:04] especially when it comes to experimental

[1:06] medical devices. And as we learned from

[1:08] NBC's Roger O'Neal tonight, the system

[1:10] is practically customuilt for fraud. The

[1:13] fleecing of America.

[1:18] Thousands of Medicare bills are being

[1:20] paid every day that should not be. For

[1:23] taxpayers, it's a tremendous waste.

[1:26] According to a new government study, as

[1:28] much as $2 million a day. Who's to

[1:31] blame? The General Accounting Office.

[1:33] The GAO says it's sloppy management by

[1:36] the federal agency in charge of

[1:38] Medicare.

[1:39] >> This is one of the big granddaddies of

[1:40] fleecing of America.

[1:42] >> Republican Christopher Shaes of

[1:43] Connecticut.

[1:44] >> What has to be done, Congressman, to

[1:46] stop it?

[1:47] >> Uh, it's a simple solution. Well, the

[1:49] bill comes in, you have a pre-screen,

[1:51] and the pre-screen knocks out all the

[1:53] absurd cases of the sprained ankle where

[1:55] you're doing a chest X-ray. We think we

[1:58] save anywhere uh from 200 to $500

[2:02] million just by having this screening uh

[2:04] process in place.

[2:07] >> The abuse is in the numbers, which the

[2:10] GAO says are too high. Last year there

[2:13] were 9 million echo cardiograms build to

[2:15] Medicare. Pictures of aging hearts cost

[2:18] $851 million. There were 14 million eye

[2:22] exams for such things as cataracts cost

[2:25] $686 million. And there were an

[2:28] astounding 34 million chest x-rays for a

[2:30] myriad of old age problems that cost

[2:33] Medicare half a billion dollar. The GAO

[2:36] says the three procedures are widely

[2:38] overused. The government audit of just a

[2:41] few thousand claims found 5% inaccurate

[2:44] if they had been checked for medical

[2:46] necessity. More than $113 million in

[2:49] claims would have been rejected. The

[2:52] money saved. The Federal Healthcare

[2:54] Financing Administration Hika is

[2:56] supposed to be Medicare's watchdog, but

[2:58] it farms out to 29 private contractors

[3:01] around the country, mostly insurance

[3:03] companies, the job of paying what's

[3:05] called Medicare Part B claims. That's

[3:08] bills from doctors, outpatient hospital

[3:10] services, and medical equipment. The GAO

[3:13] blames the Medicare waste on the lack of

[3:16] a national strategy from Washington to

[3:18] screen out bad claims.

[3:20] >> We don't believe that adopting GAO's

[3:23] recommendations would would save money

[3:26] net. It's not rational to apply a single

[3:30] automatic cookie cutter uh to every

[3:33] claim everywhere in the United States.

[3:35] But that's what the biggest private

[3:37] insurance companies in the nation are

[3:39] doing. Nancy Boyer, whose Equifax

[3:41] Healthcare sells the computer software

[3:43] to check claims, says the government

[3:45] could save, too.

[3:46] >> Minimally a billion and a half a year

[3:49] without ever changing a benefit.

[3:52] >> And the savings would pay back the $20

[3:54] million cost to the system in just 10

[3:57] working days. While most medical tests

[4:00] of the nation's elderly are legitimate,

[4:02] critics charge without more aggressive

[4:04] screening of all Medicare bills, this

[4:06] fleecing of America will continue to

[4:08] waste hundreds of millions of taxpayer

[4:11] dollars every year. Roger O'Neal, NBC

[4:14] News, Denver.

[4:16] Still to come here on NBC Nightly News

[4:18] Tonight, romance in the age of AIDS.

[4:20] >> Need to protect yourself from um

[4:22] sexually transmitted diseases, including

[4:25] HIV and AIDS.

[4:27] How has it changed us and love American

[4:29] style? Some surprising answers in depth

[4:31] tonight. And up next, Deep Pockets. The

[4:33] president's trip to the flooded

[4:35] Northwest.

[4:40] >> The last ones left the house. It's just

[4:42] the two of you now.

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[5:04] >> It's a fresh solution to dinner. Create

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[5:10] >> Hey you.

[5:11] >> Who me?

[5:11] >> Look what Betty Crocker's whipped up. A

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[5:15] >> that's totally fat free.

[5:17] >> Fat free.

[5:18] >> You heard me. Now all the best of

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[5:27] >> What are you sending?

[5:29] >> It's for Carlos

[5:30] >> in California.

[5:31] >> It's a book about maturity.

[5:33] >> He can't buy a book about maturity.

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[5:55] >> Fibercon or Metamucil both give you the

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[6:11] In the Pacific Northwest, which has been

[6:13] devastated by floods, there's some

[6:14] comfort tonight. President Clinton

[6:16] tooured the area today to personally

[6:18] assure the people there that federal

[6:19] assistance is coming soon. Here's NBC's

[6:22] Jim Mlashevski.

[6:24] >> Wearing a bomber jacket and aviator

[6:26] sunglasses, President Clinton leaned out

[6:27] the open hatch of a Marine helicopter

[6:29] for a bird's eyee view of the

[6:31] floodswelling Columbia River. The rivers

[6:34] in Oregon and Washington state are

[6:36] receding, but thousands of homes are

[6:38] still underwater. Damage runs more than

[6:40] $400 million, and the people are looking

[6:43] to the federal government for relief.

[6:45] >> It's a bad flood that these people have

[6:47] lost a lot, but a lot of things. I'm

[6:49] impressed with how quickly they've moved

[6:52] to try to restore normaly and that we

[6:54] now have to bring this federal

[6:55] assistance in as quickly as we can.

[6:57] >> In a walking tour of a flood damaged

[6:59] neighborhood in Woodland, Washington,

[7:01] President Clinton's very appearance

[7:03] seemed to boost morale. 70-year-old

[7:05] Douglas Young Nickel lost everything,

[7:08] including his hearing aid to the flood.

[7:10] But his spirits were as high as the

[7:12] water marks as he and the president

[7:13] joked about the damage.

[7:15] >> So now you got the indoor spoon. And

[7:17] young Nickel was clearly grateful the

[7:19] president was here.

[7:20] >> And to see you out here,

[7:23] ordinary people like us, it's going to

[7:25] give people faith.

[7:26] >> The president brought more than

[7:27] goodwill. He announced $60 million in

[7:30] immediate federal aid for Washington and

[7:32] Oregon with more on its way.

[7:34] >> This also gives President Clinton a

[7:36] tremendous political advantage during

[7:37] this election year because only the

[7:40] president can handdel such federal

[7:42] disaster relief. Four years ago,

[7:44] President Bush came under heavy

[7:46] political fire for the federal

[7:47] government's slow response to Hurricane

[7:49] Andrew in Florida. But in his first

[7:52] three years, President Clinton has made

[7:54] quick response to disasters a policy and

[7:57] political priority. And he's not done

[7:59] yet. After viewing flood damage in

[8:01] Portland late today, he's off to survey

[8:04] floods in Idaho and Pennsylvania later

[8:06] this week on his federal disaster

[8:09] campaign tour. Jimmy Klashsky, NBC News,

[8:12] Portland.

[8:14] >> And the mayor of one small Oregon town

[8:16] had a meeting with President Clinton

[8:17] today, finally getting to tell his

[8:19] tragic story to someone who could help.

[8:21] You're looking at the mayor's town now.

[8:22] This is Vernonia and all that's left for

[8:25] many homeowners. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell

[8:27] tonight on one small town's heartbreak.

[8:32] >> Tiny Veronia is only beginning to

[8:34] recover after six days cut off from the

[8:37] world by the worst flood here in a

[8:39] century.

[8:40] This isolated logging town 40 miles

[8:42] northwest of Portland was hit hard.

[8:46] Last Thursday, it looked like this when

[8:48] the Rock Creek and the Halm Rivers

[8:50] flooded. Most of Veronia's 2200

[8:52] residents saw their homes and community

[8:55] wiped out. With roads blocked and phones

[8:58] out, they waited for help, but no one

[9:00] came.

[9:01] >> This is a real disaster here in this

[9:03] community. These are real people. They

[9:06] have real problems, and they need

[9:08] immediate help. FEMA, the Federal

[9:10] Emergency Management Agency, arrived in

[9:12] Portland last week, but did not show up

[9:15] in Vernonia until this afternoon.

[9:17] >> That was frustrating knowing that um

[9:19] other people in the Portland metro area

[9:22] were getting help and we were like

[9:24] forgot.

[9:26] >> The mayor says there's been no response

[9:28] from the state, county, or national

[9:30] guard. 6 days after the flood, this town

[9:33] is still on its own. With no help to get

[9:35] the debris out, people brought their

[9:37] ruined furniture, appliances, and

[9:39] possessions here to what was an empty

[9:41] lot. Seeing this is one measure of how

[9:44] much Verona's lost. The town's only

[9:48] drugstore will never reopen. The high

[9:50] school was under 5t of water. The gym

[9:53] floor, the pride of this timber town,

[9:55] can't be salvaged. Classes won't restart

[9:58] for at least a month. People here take

[10:01] care of each other. Volunteers have

[10:03] served 1,500 meals each day for the past

[10:06] week. Both restaurants in town are shut

[10:08] down.

[10:09] >> There wasn't anybody else to feed these

[10:11] people. We had to be here to feed them.

[10:13] >> 80% of Vernonians work in the timber

[10:16] industry. Many won't return to their

[10:18] jobs for weeks or months because the

[10:20] flood washed out dozens of roads

[10:22] necessary for logging. Fernonia's small

[10:24] town spirit carried it through a week of

[10:26] disaster. Now they're ready for

[10:28] government to step in and help them

[10:30] fully recover. Kelly O'Donnell, NBC

[10:32] News, Vernonia, Oregon.

[10:35] >> Wall Street finally hit a bump today

[10:36] after seven straight highs. The Dow

[10:38] dropped in heavy trading. The NASDAQ was

[10:41] up, however, but just a fraction trading

[10:43] there, also heavy today. A big blow to

[10:46] the global communications business

[10:47] today. A Chinese rocket carrying a

[10:49] communication satellite blew up seconds

[10:52] after liftoff in southwestern China.

[10:55] satellite was supposed to provide direct

[10:57] to home television service for Latin

[10:59] America. When NBC Nightly News

[11:02] continues, Cupid's Arrow in the '9s.

[11:05] Why, these are the years of loving

[11:08] dangerous love.

[11:10] >> As sure as the sun will rise across

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[12:42] >> NBC News in depth tonight. Valentine's

[12:44] Day, but this is not about hearts and

[12:46] flowers and Johnny Matthysse songs.

[12:48] Today celebrates all the comforting old

[12:51] cliches about love, but romance in the

[12:53] '9s runs headlong into the very modern

[12:56] fear of AIDS.