California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom Announces Meeting to Discuss Waste and Fraud's Impact on Healthcare

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom will be meeting today at 2:30 p.m. PST in the Union Square Conference Room at the Omni Hotel, San Francisco along with Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and Former Governor of Wisconsin Tommy G. Thompson and other industry leaders. The meeting will explore ways the private and public sectors can collaborate on comprehensive solutions to combat healthcare fraud and create efficiencies in the healthcare payment system to reduce healthcare costs. HealthcarePays is moderating the meeting as it prepares to implement its industry-owned healthcare payment network.

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California Lt. Gov. Newsom says, "Current healthcare fraud is estimated to be between $70 and $234 billion a year nationally – a figure that is unacceptable and creating a negative impact on the operational budgets of every state in the country.  California alone spends an estimated $6 billion a year. The purpose of this collaboration is to find comprehensive solutions amongst the private and public sectors to address rising healthcare costs.  One fundamental way is to streamline the payment authorization process, as has been so successful in financial services.  Collaborative payment processing can systematically identify fraud in healthcare in a way never done before. If we can find and eradicate these hidden costs we can divert those savings where the resources are needed most – caring for our citizens."

Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and Former Governor of Wisconsin Tommy G. Thompson agrees, stating that waste and fraud is one of the biggest year-over-year financial burdens facing healthcare today. 

"Estimates are that between 10 percent and 30 percent of every dollar goes to someplace other than paying for quality care.  The recent events around healthcare.gov and the rollout of Obamacare are troublesome.  Every bit as troubling, but below the recent headlines, is the ever-increasing burden of fraud and waste on healthcare," says Thompson.  "Mainly this is so because we don't compare payments for healthcare services with all others before we authorize the movement of money. It's time we focus on the high price we are paying as a nation for healthcare administration – namely payment practices that leave the door open for waste and fraud, which is draining healthcare of precious resources that could be going to patient care. By tackling these issues, providing cost transparency, and collaborating on healthcare payment authorizations, we can protect the value of everyone's premium dollars and ensure every penny possible is spent on quality care."

About HealthcarePays, Inc.

HealthcarePays (HCP) is a member-owned "payment network" designed to cut healthcare costs. HCP, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with the technology group based in Carlsbad, California, provides a fast, secure, electronic network that simplifies and improves the healthcare payment system. HCP streamlines the movement of healthcare payments and filters such payments among providers, payers, self-insured employers, government payers, intermediaries, clearinghouses and banks in the U.S. The secure network is highly efficient, cost effective and fully compliant with the Affordable Care Act and other state and federal laws. www.healthcarepays.com. https://twitter.com/healthcarepays; https://www.linkedin.com/company/healthcarepays.

Media contact:
Bonnie Shaw
Clearpoint Agency, Inc.
[email protected]
760.230.2424

SOURCE HealthcarePays, Inc.