We tolerate too many tax evaders

Some Medicare providers are not paying their taxes. This year the GAO reports that 27,000 providers did not pay payroll or income taxes of more than $2 billion. Things are getting worse here in that last year the numbers were 21,000 and $1 billion.

Despite the magnitude of the revenue loss, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are loath to use the clout of the Federal Payment Levy Program to collect our money. This program allows the IRS to withhold our money that is paid to tax evaders. The GAO has been after CMS since 2001 to adopt the program.