GAO finds 6% of Medicare providers owe back taxes

WASHINGTON -- More than 27,000 health care providers -- hospitals, nursing homes and doctors -- who care for the elderly owe more than $2 billion in unpaid taxes even as they continue to collect Medicare payments from the government, a federal watchdog agency has found.

In some cases the providers spent employees' payroll taxes, money that's supposed to fund the government's health care program for those 65 and older, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation found. Some executives "accumulated substantial wealth and assets, including million-dollar houses and luxury vehicles, while failing to pay their federal taxes," the report said.

The agency did not identify any of the companies or doctors it investigated using records from 2006. The tax delinquents it identified represent 6% of all Medicare providers.

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., called the results "shocking." He also criticized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for failing to ...