Quote:
Originally Posted by smae
Hey there.
The other day, I got some information in the mail about Medicaid. In SD, when someone is approved for SSI, he or she automatically gets Medicaid as well. As I was reading through the information, I found something that said if a person is aware of someone who is receiving Medicaid fraudulently, he or she should report it. There was a phone number to a tip line of sorts.
That got me thinking.
If a person knows of someone who is receiving SSI... yet would be able to work and is lying to the government, is he/she under obligation to report it? HOW would one report it?
If there is a person who claims that he or she cannot work, yet is working on vehicles and riding motorcycles and things... does that need to be reported?
It is hard to explain without getting into too much detail, but I know that if a person can get down on the ground and fix cars every day and go ride a motorcycle, he or she could work a sit down job at a gas station or other place.
Also, this person most likely has resources exceeding $2,000. There have been many hints, but I can't prove it for sure.
I am not sure if this is the same as Medicaid... is there a way to report suspicion? Is a person obligated to report it, or no? Does anyone have this information?
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There are invisible disabilities. There are mental illnesses that don't stop someone from working on a car or riding a motorcycle but do affect a person's ability to get along in a work situation. Those of us who don't have mental problems may believe that tough love or a good kick in the butt will force some people to work. For a few maybe. Others who are not able/willing to suck up their problems long enough to stay on the job also end up incarcerated and the government supports them too.
Lots of people in the country who do nothing and have never done anything to contribute to the GNP and live on the fringes of society. We can ignore them, we can give them handouts, we can shoot them (well, no not really).
It's possible that this person you are observing may have a diagnosis of a mental illness and sees no reason to tell you or the rest of the world about it. So you really have nothing to report since you don't know enough. Is the person fraudulently getting benefits? IMO, a significant percentage of current beneficiaries could be doing routine, sedentary work. Can't point the finger at anyone here since I know nothing about them beyond what they say, but I think if we could all read each other's medical files and compare levels of disability, I think we'd find that there are many many recipients who just don't seem to be that disabled.
But call OIG if you feel the need. You will not be informed about the outcome.