Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Government needs to police Internet more carefully.

Waste, fraud, and abuse in the United States clocked $98 billion in year 2009, 38 percent more than 2008, according to Input -- a market research firm. And online healthcare fraud is one of the biggest culprits. Input found that $24 billion of the total loss came from Medicare, with an additional $18 million from Medicaid.

At present, individuals or shady government contractors find it easy to hoodwink the government online, Input researchers find. Those applying for federal aid rarely need to visit government offices. "It becomes easier to, say, collect unemployment when you shouldn't," says Angie Petty, senior research analyst at Input, simply because forms can be filled out online. Verifying that data can be extremely difficult. The Internet's cheap."The difference between the Internet and previously available means is that it's very expensive to send out regular mail, but you can provide a tremendous amount of information at little or no cost," says Petty.

Another problem associated with the Internet is that it's difficult to police. In a majority of cases, the U.S. government is forced to catch up on illegally-used funds only after they have left government accounts. But Petty feels that the Internet could be used as an apparatus to stop the money from being stolen in the first place. In order to keep a check on fraudulent activities, the government could use the Internet to monitor suspicious activity. as well as give whistleblowers a website to bring potential fraud to their attention. (Editor's note: The article that has been referenced here is posted online at: quitamteam.com/news/top-headlines/630-could-the-internet-help-or-hurt-healthcare-fraud.)