Insurance fraud affects everyone. While you may not be personally involved with the fraud itself, you will no doubt pay for someone else’s crime in the long run.
According to the Coalition on Insurance Fraud, an anti-fraud watchdog organization formed in 1993 by concerned citizens, fraudulent schemes cost Americans about $80 billion each year. That’s about $950 annually per U.S. family.
What is fraud and why is it such a popular crime among money-hungry
crooks? Fraud occurs when insurers and agents defraud consumers
or when individuals deceive an agent or insurance company in order to
collect money to which they are not entitled.
Insurance fraud has lots of lasting effects on innocent consumers and
are almost too numerous to mention. For example, those who stage
automobile accidents in order to collect insurance money risk killing
or seriously injuring innocent bystanders. Those who sell bogus
health insurance are risking the health of unknowing consumers,
especially the elderly, who are often targets of such schemes.
Often, families or individuals lose their life savings in insurance
investment scams. Premiums rise or remain high because insurance
companies must pass the cost of fraud to their customers and honest
businesses lose money due to rising costs caused by ongoing fraudulent
behavior.
Experts note that insurance fraud persists because insurance companies
are too quick to pay on frivolous or suspicious claims, choosing that
option over potentially costly lawsuits and court appearances.
Criminals view insurance fraud as a low-risk crime, much less risky
than committing armed robbery or selling drugs or other illegal
substances. Some states don’t even possess specific laws to
address these crimes and, in the states where insurance crooks have
been prosecuted, the jail time has historically been rather light.
It’s easy to target the elderly and immigrants in such fraudulent
schemes. These vulnerable individuals most often fall prey to
these con-artists, who play on the frailty of older folks and the
language difficulties that immigrants may face.
Counteracting insurance fraud is a never-ending job, but states are
continuing to create fraud boards and watchdog organizations persist in
rallying for tougher laws and punishment for
offenders.
Rita C. Sibble
Name
posted: 2006-01-08 22:32:51
Greed in Hospital
I was an RN at a community in Northern PA for over 1 year. I finally had to resign or go along w/ the hypocracy of the administration. And since I was not going to compromise my ethics or integrity, I quit. It is pretty sad when a hospital puts money before patient welfare and safety. I wonder how many hospitals in this country fall under the same banner of fraud as that of the hospital I worked for. I would be interested in hearing if any medically oriented people are working w/ the same type of administrators.