Opinion: Electronic Payment Systems Must Be Overhauled

In light of "a never-ending stream of Medicare and Medicaid rip-off stories," it is "no longer sensible to disburse public funds, on trust, through electronic systems," Malcolm Sparrow -- a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and deputy chair of the White House Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, which advises on the integrity of the 2009 federal economic stimulus package -- writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. According to Sparrow, "Those committing fraud find it easy to get paid for fabricated claims because the government's systems check for billing correctness but not for truthfulness." He adds, "Such systems must now either be fortified with substantial resources for routine validation or, preferably, be phased out altogether through structural reforms."

• "An E-Ripoff of the U.S." (Sparrow, Los Angeles Times, 8/21).