National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2008

Mr. President, ``the first important rule of fraud control is: What you see is not the problem. It is what we don't see that really does the damage, and the efficacy of control systems depends upon how well they uncover, and then suppress, the invisible bulk of the problem.'' Such are the words of the preeminent expert on health care fraud, Harvard, Kennedy School of Government Professor, Malcolm Sparrow.

Just last week, the Washington Post ran a front-page article, which I would ask to be entered into the record, ``Medical Fraud a Growing Problem: Medicare Pays Most Claims Without Review.'' The story detailed how one

woman, defrauded the Government out of $105 million using just a laptop while sitting in her Mediterranean-style townhouse.

While the lottery's slogan is ``All you need is a dollar and dream.'' This woman discovered something better. Maybe Medicare should adopt the slogan ``All you need is a Provider Number and a dream.''

Quite simply, Medicare is not sophisticated enough to address the fraud that runs rampant through it. Every year, Medicare's anemic fraud controls let slip by an array of schemes that cost the Medicare program and taxpayers $60 billion, if not more. That is 20 percent of all Medicare spending.

Often, as pointed out by the Washington Post article, Medicare pays claims with little or no review as to why or where the checks are going or to whom. One phantom company, comprising nothing more than two rented mailboxes and a phone number was paid $2.1 million over a 6 month period. In another case, the owner of the fraudulent company was an unemployed tow truck operator who used the identities of dozens of dead patients. Again, ``All you need is a Provider Number and a dream.''

Medicare fraud is not limited to one segment of the health care sector. There are numerous examples of fraud conducted by physicians, dentists, health systems, laboratories, teaching hospitals, patients, and billing specialists to name a few. While I would agree that most of these groups are operating on the straight and narrow, the truth remains that the losses associated with Medicare fraud are helping drive the program to bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, conducting Medicare fraud has such a low risk of getting caught and less severe punishment yet high reward that it has even attracted organized crime. Again, ``All you need is a Provider Number and a dream.''

Usually, the only way Medicare is able to recoup a small portion of the annual $60 billion in losses is by expending more resources on investigations and law enforcement activities through the Office of Inspector General and Department of Justice. While these agencies have done a commendable job in combating fraud, to a large extent it is good money chasing bad.

Sometimes systems are set-up to fail. In this case, the Medicare fraud prevention program is not only set-up to fail, it is nearly non- existent.

We need to go from ``pay and chase'' to ``detect and prevent.'' Medicare needs to be mobile and it needs to be focused on preventing criminals from ever getting paid in the first place. Medicare needs a system that will continually, as Malcolm Sparrow said: ``uncover, and then suppress.''

Today, I am proud to join Senator Martinez in what I hope is the first in a line of necessary common sense solutions to this problem. The Seniors and Taxpayers Obligation Protection Act or STOP Act, will protect honest taxpayers, seniors, and providers, by strengthening the Medicare program itself.

To prevent fraud, the STOP Act employs lessons from the private sector and moves Medicare into the 21st century. For example, Medicare may be the only program, company, or industry left in the country that still thinks it is a good idea to use social security numbers for identification. In a time where a stolen social security number is a stolen identity, Medicare has not stopped printing it on identification cards that are sent through the mail.

Even worse, when seniors report that their social security number is being used fraudulently to bill for services in Medicare that they didn't receive, Medicare has no ability to stop paying claims on that social security number or provide the senior with a new number. Medicare has ignored the warnings of the Government Accountability Office and the pleas of groups like AARP and Consumers Union to change this practice. Passage of the STOP Act will mean Medicare can ignore it no longer.

The STOP Act requires physicians in high risk areas to review the claims they submitted, similar to how you or I would review our credit card statement at the end of the month to ensure there are no mistaken or fraudulent charges.

It implements prepayment fraud detection methods, such as site visits, data analysis, and integrity reviews, so that a guy with a mailbox can no longer rely on ``All you need is a Supplier Number and a Dream.''

It ensures providers are billing for only those services for which they are qualified.

It tracks the usage of durable medical equipment and it conducts a study on the implementation prospects of real-time claims analysis technology.

Yes, many acts of fraud may be invisible, but it doesn't make them undetectable, and it certainly doesn't mean that we should just turn a blind eye. I hope my colleagues and members of the health sector will join Senator Martinez and me in stepping up to the task of being part of the solution. Our seniors, our providers, and our taxpayers deserve better accountability from Medicare.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak on a bill I am introducing with my colleague, Senator Snowe, to amend the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve program. I want to thank Senator Snowe for her tremendous leadership on the problem this bill is designed to address, which is a critically important issue for our region that we have worked together on for many years. That issue is the skyrocketing price of heating oil, which millions of families in the Northeast are dependent on to heat their homes through our long, cold winters.

According to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Agency, EIA, 6.2 million of the 8 million households in the U.S. that use heating oil to heat their homes are in the Northeast, or approximately 78 percent. As crude oil and gasoline prices have risen higher and higher, the cost of heating oil has risen as well. Currently, heating oil is far and away the costliest method of heating homes, costing families an average of nearly $2000 per year, and much more in the coldest areas. Overall, heating a home with heating oil costs twice the national average of all fuels combined, yet most families in the Northeast have little choice. Even in some of our region's cities, there are no natural gas lines or other sources of home heating available to residents.

This dependence on heating oil is stretching many families' budgets to the breaking point. Where once low and moderate income families could struggle through the winter, soaring heating oil prices are forcing people to choose between heating their homes, driving their cars to and from work, and putting food on the table for their families. The EIA estimated that this year, it will cost $1,962 to heat a home with oil, a 33 percent increase from last year and a 117 percent increase since 2004. In just 4 short years, the cost of heating a home with oil has gone up more than $1000 dollars! Many families and seniors living on fixed incomes simply cannot bear this burden.

That is why Senator Snowe and I are proposing a price trigger to provide for oil to be released from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. This is a 2-million barrel reserve I originally worked to create in 2000, along with my colleague from Maine and other Senators from the Northeast, to protect the residents of the region from severe price shocks to the heating oil market. Given the record heating oil prices we are experiencing today, we believe it would be reasonable to use this reserve to try to cushion those dependent on heating oil to get through the winter. From November through March, the Secretary of Energy would conduct a survey to determine the price of a gallon of heating oil on the first of each month. If the price meets or exceeds $4 per gallon, this would trigger an immediate release of 20 percent of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. This oil would then be sold on the open market to lower the price of heating oil in the region.

The revenue raised by the sale would then be devoted to the Weatherization Assistance Program to help low income heating oil customers increase the energy efficiency of their homes. Experience has shown that properly weatherizing homes can increase their energy efficiency by 20-30 percent, reducing energy consumption and lowering monthly utility bills. However, most low and middle income families cannot afford the upfront investment necessary to reap these benefits. The Weatherization Assistance Program is an enormously successful program designed to help families make that initial investment.

This bill will not solve our Nation's energy crisis, nor will this alone solve the problem of high heating oil prices in the Northeast. As the Senator from Maine well knows, we need to devote far more money to programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and we need to take a serious look at restructuring our Nation's comprehensive energy policy. But this legislation is a very good first step toward easing the pain so many residents of the Northeast and my State of Connecticut are feeling. I urge my colleagues to support us in this effort.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that would end an arbitrary process through which our own Government takes away the Second Amendment rights of American veterans.

As most of my colleagues know, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act prohibits the sale of firearms to those who have been ``adjudicated as a mental defective.''

The Government maintains a database on these individuals called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or ``NICS.'' The Brady Law and the NICS database aims to prevent those who may pose a danger to society or themselves from purchasing a firearm.

Gun shop owners use NICS to screen customers before selling a firearm. Needless to say, it is a serious matter to have one's name on the NICS. Every American should expect a rigorous and fair process before their right to bear arms is taken away.

Unfortunately, when it comes to certain veterans, surviving spouses, and children, the process is neither rigorous nor fair.

Since 1999, VA has sent the names of 116,000 of its beneficiaries to the FBI for inclusion on the NICS.

None of these names were sent to the FBI because they were determined to be a danger to themselves or others. They were listed in NICS because they could not manage their financial affairs. We should not take away a Constitutional right because someone can't balance a checkbook or pay their bills on time.

This practice is arbitrary, unfair, and applies a double standard.

VA's review process for assigning a fiduciary is meant to determine one's financial responsibility in managing VA-provided disability compensation, pension, and other benefits. For example, a veteran may be assigned a fiduciary if they have credit problems.

The VA focuses on whether or not benefits paid by VA will be spent in the manner in which they were intended. Nothing involved with VA's appointment of a fiduciary even gets at the question of whether an individual is a danger to themselves or others, or whether the person should own a firearm.

Yet that is exactly what happens if VA appoints a fiduciary. Over 116,000 individuals have been listed in NICS since 1999 because they were appointed a fiduciary. This includes veterans, surviving spouses, and even children.

This process is not only arbitrary, it is unfair. Taking away a Constitutional right is a serious action and veterans should be afforded due process under the law. At the very least, we should expect such decisions to be made by a competent judicial authority and not by civilian government employees.

The current practice is also a double standard. Only VA beneficiaries fall under these guidelines. The Social Security Administration assigns fiduciaries to help beneficiaries, yet the Social Security Administration does not send their names to the NICS.

Why are we singling out those who fought for this country and those who sacrificed while their spouse or parent served?

My legislation would end this arbitrary and unfair practice that strips the finest men and women of this country of their right to bear arms. This legislation would require a judicial authority to determine that an individual is a danger to themselves or others before their Second Amendment rights are taken away.

I am not here to ask that we put guns in the hands of dangerous people. I am here to ask that we treat our veterans fairly and we take the rights of our veterans seriously.

No matter where my colleagues fall on the gun issue, I hope we can all agree that we need a process that is consistent and fair. Our veterans took an oath to uphold the Constitution. They deserve to enjoy the rights they fought so hard to protect.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.