Most fraud is perpetrated by health care providers. Doctors, pharmacists, chiropractors, dentists, transportation providers, nursing homes, hospitals and other healthcare providers commit the largest frauds, because they can. Providers can bill Medicaid, Medicare and insurance for huge amounts and get paid. Patients don’t have the same ability to rip off these programs.

See Who Steals for a description of what motivates people to steal money through healthcare fraud.

See Fraud Cases for articles about fraud cases by various kinds of providers.

We all pay for healthcare fraud. People who commit healthcare fraud are stealing from you and me. Insurance fraud inflates premiums at least 10%. Doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers who defraud Medicaid take our tax dollars away from important services like education and health coverage for children. At least 8% of Medicare spending (over $12 billion per year) is wasted through fraud and other improper payments—money that could be spent on prescription drug benefits. See Fraud Control Under-Funded