The GAO analyzed healthcare fraud cases resolved in 2010 in their report.
Here are five key points:
1. The GAO found other common schemes comprised healthcare fraud including falsifying records (25 percent), kickbacks (21 percent) and fraudulently obtaining controlled substances or misbranding prescription drugs (21 percent).
2. Healthcare providers were complicit in 62 percent of the cases.
3. Beneficiaries were complicit in 14 percent of the cases.
4. GAO recommends individuals use “smart card” technology for cases where individuals billed the government or private health insurance companies using a beneficiary or provider’s information without their knowledge. The technology verifies both the provider and beneficiary’s approval of the billing.
5. The smart cards could have prevented nearly 22 percent of the cases they reviewed, the GAO concluded.
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