Health Care Fraud Affects Everyone in the United States

Health care fraud is prevalent. Many scams try to sell bogus insurance policies to unsuspecting victims. There is another form of health care fraud — perpetrated inside the system. When scams and fraud are uncovered, the health insurance system usually responds with stricter regulations and policies.

The biggest impact health insurance fraud has on patients is that it raises insurance prices. For every insurance claim paid that turns out to be fraudulent, the insurer has to raise prices to cover their losses. Health care fraud within the government has an even bigger impact because your tax dollars pay for it. Ultimately, it means health care is then not available for those who desperately need it.

This means those who need medicine or treatment may not get it because someone else got it under false pretenses. There are also instances of health care fraud via medical identity theft — this is far more common than we would like to think, where a thief uses another persons insurance to get health care services.

Being aware that there are many health insurance scams out there is important. If you think that you have been a victim of a scam, make sure to contact the relevant authorities.