To grasp Medicare's staggering bill for ambulance rides in New Jersey, just visit the busy parking lot of the DaVita St. Joseph's dialysis clinic in the town of Paterson. More than 20 ambulances and a handful of wheelchair vans were parked outside on a recent morning there. Emergency medical technicians wheeled patients in and out on stretchers. As soon as one ambulance departed, another took its place. For each one-way ride, Medicare pays ambulance companies nearly $200, plus $6 a mile.
The Pentagon spends about $100 million annually to recover and identify missing service members from the Vietnam War, Korean War and World War II, but identified just 60 last year — far short of the 200 per year mandated by Congress starting next year. This latest restructuring is the broadest one yet, taking on the science used to make identifications and creating public-private partnerships, but it's unclear whether it will be a reorganization just on paper like it was in the past.
Corruption affects all member countries of the European Union and costs the bloc's economies around 120 billion euros ($162.19 billion) a year, an official EU report published Monday said. European Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the estimated amount lost annually due to padded government contracts, covert political financing, bribes to secure health care and other corrupt practices would be enough to fund the European Union's yearly operating budget.
It is very common for committees in the Legislature to have end of session parties and invite staff and friends of the committee. What is not probably too common is the final tab the party racked up: $18,584.55, with a 20% tip of $3,656.48 added, for a total tab of $22,241.03. That includes around 75 bottles of wine for 121 people.
