Christopher Jacobs writes for the Federalist about disingenuous attacks on efforts to clean up government waste.

Following last month’s elections, much of official Washington — to say nothing of corporate America — has fixated on whether the incoming Trump administration’s effort to reduce spending, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, will succeed. A recent expose in The Wall Street Journal may provide a good test of the willingness of this duo, not to mention Donald Trump, to take on entrenched interests to achieve their goals.Back in April, I noted in The Federalist that reducing waste and fraud in programs like Medicare and Social Security represents the furthest thing from “cutting” these programs, Democrat scare tactics notwithstanding. The Journal article provided a perfect example of such waste. The question is, will Musk, Ramaswamy, Trump, and a Republican Congress be willing and able to act?

The Journal’s investigation examined Medicare Advantage plans targeted to veterans. These insurers receive payments every month for providing traditional Medicare benefits to seniors. But in the cases the Journal examined, the plans didn’t have to provide much if any care because the veterans in question received many of their health treatments through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Journal analysis found that about one-fifth of these veterans had no — zero — use of Medicare services in 2021, compared to roughly 1 in 30 individuals enrolled in other Medicare Advantage plans who used no Medicare services. From 2018 to 2021, the VA paid $46 billion to provide care to these veterans. Medicare Advantage plans got paid nearly as much ($44 billion) over the same period, but in many cases, the plans had to provide little if any additional care.

The Medicare program does pay these Medicare Advantage plans targeted toward veterans slightly less, ostensibly to reflect the fact that veterans receive many health services from the VA. But the Journal examined one Humana plan for veterans that received 22 percent less than other Medicare Advantage plans in a given area, but whose participants had 38 percent fewer days in the hospital, and 63 percent fewer doctor visits and surgeries. In other words, even though Humana received less than other Medicare Advantage plans, it was still paid too much — which probably explains why Humana and other insurers are creating these plans targeted at veterans in the first place.