Originally published Friday, June 20, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Capital Watch
Medicare pays, but providers do not; $2 billion in back taxes owed
Health-care providers collect millions of dollars in federal Medicare payments each year despite owing the government more than $2 billion...
WASHINGTON — Health-care providers collect millions of dollars in federal Medicare payments each year despite owing the government more than $2 billion in back taxes, congressional investigators said Thursday.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that more than 27,000 nursing homes, hospitals, physicians and other providers flouted the tax system while collecting Medicare fees in 2006. That represented 6 percent of all providers in a Medicare program that served 43.2 million people and paid out $402 billion in benefits that year.
The report did not cite provider names. Auditors performed the study at the request of Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Norm Coleman, R-Minn., the chairman and ranking Republican, respectively, of the Government Affairs subcommittee on investigations.
The study follows other GAO reports and congressional hearings since 2004 that have looked into why billions of dollars in taxes owed by government contractors remain uncollected.
Few Cold War vet claims granted
The Veterans Affairs Department has granted only 6 percent of health claims filed by veterans of secret Cold War chemical- and germ-warfare tests conducted by the Pentagon, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press.
Veterans advocates called the number appallingly low.
By comparison, about 88 percent of processed claims from Gulf War vets were granted as of last year, according to VA documents. More than 90 percent of processed claims from Iraq and Afghanistan vets were granted as of earlier this year.
Thousands of service members were exposed, often without their knowledge, to real and simulated chemical and biological agents, including sarin and VX. The tests were conducted at sea and above a half-dozen U.S. states from 1962-73 to see how U.S. ships would withstand chemical and germ assaults and how such weapons would disperse.
NOAA tightens shark quotas, fin rules
To curb the illegal practice of removing shark fins at sea, U.S. officials announced Thursday that all sharks caught in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico must be brought ashore with their fins attached.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also reduced by 85 percent the commercial fishing quota for the sandbar shark, a popular species for the Asian delicacy of shark fin soup. Recreational fishermen also will be banned from catching and keeping sandbar sharks.
![]()
The new rules, which will take effect July 24, will help rebuild populations, NOAA says, because sharks take years to mature and produce few offspring.
Anti-smoking drug warning issued
The Veterans Affairs Department is sending letters to 33,000 veterans who are taking the anti-smoking drug Chantix, warning them about possible side effects, including suicidal thoughts.
VA Secretary James Peake said Thursday that agency doctors will continue to prescribe the drug because they are seeing no serious problems or trends with its use.
He defended the VA's use of the drug to treat some of the veterans with stress disorders who were participating in a study to stop smoking. Of the 143 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder who took Chantix in the study, he said that three — or 2 percent — experienced thoughts of suicide. Of the roughly 800 veterans in the study who did not take Chantix, 35 had suicidal thoughts — or about 4.4 percent, he said.
The letter going out Thursday urges anyone who is experiencing side effects or is worried about the drug to consult a doctor.
Seattle Times news services
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Sources: Obama near decision on Afghanistan troops
Bill Clinton meets with Senate Dems on health care
FBI reassessing past look at Fort Hood suspect
McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
High court looks at life sentences for juveniles

Ken Auletta talks about "Googled"
Ken Auletta talks about Google with Brier Dudley at the Seattle Central Library.
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect
- Prosecutors consider charges against suspect in police shooting
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- Steve Kelley | Hasselbeck gives Seahawks' sagging season a stay of execution
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- McGinn next Seattle mayor; Mallahan concedes as vote gap widens
- Bill Clinton meets with Senate Dems on health care
- Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge
- Lt. governor's son shot by co-worker in Kent; gunman then shot self
- Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
254 - House health bill unacceptable to many in Senate
250 - Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
177 - Prosecutors prepare charges against suspect in police shooting
144 - Alleged shooter tied to mosque of 9/11 hijackers
135 - Obama puts heat on Senate to speed health bill
124 - Resolute Fort Hood soldiers ready for return
120 - McGinn more than doubles his lead over Mallahan
106 - Josh Smith picks UCLA
74 - Cutaia says replay handled properly on Austin TD
69
- For 80-year-old Maple Valley man, hoops aren't just a dream
- Plans call for Triangle to become West Seattle gateway
- Three more fires ignite in Greenwood
- 'Missing' SeaTac man found with new name, in new state
- Silver Lake restaurant destroyed by fire
- Pakistani-American cafe, bar owner on verge of being Granite Falls mayor
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tours Seattle's Swedish after health-care vote
- Taste | Ruth Reichl still reigns as queen of America's culinary scene
- All You Can Eat | Fruit flies: thrill to the kill
- Police: DNA from officer's slaying matches suspect





