Health care fraud costs billions, study finds

A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that resolved health care fraud cases in the last decade resulted in $9.3 billion in damages paid to federal and state governments (Source: “Health-care fraud's $9.3B price tag,” Dayton Business Journal, Sept. 1, 2008).

The study, which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, credited tougher enforcement involving whistleblowers with inside information of the fraud since the early 1990s with a dramatic increase in government recoveries. However, the authors also contend that the data suggests that there is likely much more unrecognized fraud, and that it is a major driver of escalating health care costs.