The Patriot Post® · You Paid for It

An HHS inspector general report released Monday contained a disturbing federal expenditure: $175 for vacuum erection systems (VES), otherwise known as “penis pumps.” Medicare Part B covers the VES, which are used to treat impotence. Worse, the feds paid twice the retail price for this “stimulus package” – at a time when the nation is already hard up for money. According to the Washington Free Beacon, “Medicare payments for VES have swelled in recent years. The Department of Health and Human Services paid $20.6 million for 61,589 claims in 2006. It paid $38.6 million for 103,448 claims in 2011.” It’s enough to make you realize that HHS is really giving taxpayers the shaft.