August 26, 2011 10:58AM 

# $154 Million Medicaid Fraud Settlement a Sign of Govt Failure, Not Success 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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The federal government, four states, and a whistleblower have extracted a $154 million settlement from Par Pharmaceuticals for fraudulently inflating the prices it charges Medicaid, according to [the Associated Press](http://news.yahoo.com/feds-4-states-share-154m-medicaid-settlement-222324661.html).

With Medicare and Medicaid losing roughly $100 *billion* each year to fraud and other improper payments, however, the fact that a paltry $154 million settlement is news can only mean that federal and state governments are not even trying to combat fraud in any serious way. As I explain in this video, that’s because politicians have almost zero incentive to do so — which makes massive amounts of fraud an inherent part of these programs:

Under [ObamaCare](www.cato.org/bad-medicine/), Medicare and Medicaid fraud will only get worse.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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