If you want to understand the problem of "waste, fraud, and abuse" in federal health programs, you should read this great piece by Sarah Kliff and @bykatiethomas.bsky.social on scammy skin substitute companies. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/h...

As they report, the companies that make these skin substitutes--a fancy kind of bandage--have exploited loopholes in Medicare's pricing policies to charge high prices. Then they offer financial incentives to doctors to overuse them on patients.

The current administration is hunting for ways to save money on wasteful spending. Yet Mr. Trump has posted on social media in support of the companies.

They interviewed one doctor who charged Medicare $17m least year for using the special bandages, made from dried placentas and infant foreskins. He said he took home $4m. He said he retired after other doctors were beating him into patients' homes to do the procedures.

Here's why the products themselves are so expensive.

Medicare spent more than $10b last year on these skin substitutes. For context, the personnel budget for the entire HHS workforce was around $17.6b.

It's hard to think of many examples of wasteful Medicare spending that are quite this obvious. It is notable that the president personally opposes reining it in.

But the story makes clear that the overuse enriches both the bandage companies and the doctors who use them--two groups who now oppose any payment cuts.