Corporate Compliance

Healthcare fraud effects public and private insurance alike

Compliance Monitor, July 8, 2009

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A report published by the George Washington University Medical Center, Health Insurance Fraud: An Overview, states that the healthcare fraud problem is not specific to public insurers (i.e., Medicare and Medicaid). According to the report’s authors, Sara Rosenbaum, Nancy Lopez, and Scott Stifler, private insurance providers are just as susceptible to fraud as Medicare and Medicaid.
 
The report states, “What is absolutely clear from virtually every reliable source on the subject is that healthcare fraud is a systemic problem affecting public and private insurers alike, in the individual market, the employer-sponsored group market, and public programs.”
 
The report also states that medical providers commit 80% of healthcare fraud, consumers commit 10%, and a combination of insurers and their employees commit the final 10%.
 
The report’s authors argue the reason Medicare and Medicaid appear to be more susceptible to fraud and abuse is because those programs cover the elderly, women, minorities, the less educated, and the poor, who are also the most vulnerable to fraud.



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