CMS: a Culture of Lying
I’m really starting to get tired reporting on all of CMS’s lies. CMS’s newest lie, while not having the impact of deliberately lying about hundreds of billions of dollars in a cost estimate, is certainly incredible! A CMS official testified at a House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee that nearly all of the Medicare prescription-drug plans are paying pharmacies in a timely matter, despite widespread reports from pharmacies to the contrary.
To back up their assertions, CMS cited a survey they claimed they conducted finding that up to 18 of the top 20 prescription-drug plans (which account for more than 90% the drug coverage for Part D beneficiaries) pay pharmacy claims in 15 days or less. But low and behold, we now find out that no such survey was ever conducted. It really blows my mind how CMS can consistently lie to Congress and the American public and keep getting away with it.
If I was a Congressman, I would demand a clean sweep of top CMS officials. Their culture of lying and misleading both Congress and the American people is absolutely criminal. Many of us who have been closely following the data that CMS comes up with have long suspected its validity. With so much of their data and statements contradicting what everyone else in America is reporting, I can almost guarantee this isn’t the last lie that CMS will get caught on.
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