Health care fraud and abuse steals billions of dollars every year from all of us:
- The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that $97 billion a year is lost to fraud through federal health programs, primarily Medicare and Medicaid.
The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association estimates as much as ten cents of every health care dollar is lost to fraud and abuse—that's more than $170 billion.
Your premium dollars and even your benefit coverage are a magnet for health care fraud and abuse. Phony billing scams increase costs for everyone, and medical identity theft can result in loss of your benefits and add incorrect information to your medical records.
That's why it's important to learn more about health care fraud and abuse, and what all of us can do to fight it.
Health care fraud occurs when someone intentionally misrepresents a fact on a health care claim for the purpose of receiving—or increasing—reimbursement from a health plan. Fraud also occurs when someone misrepresents the delivery of health care services or supplies.
Health care abuse occurs if an activity abuses the health care system but does not meet the legal definition of fraud. Examples include over-use of services, or changing procedure codes and "unbundling" services usually delivered together, to increase reimbursement.
You may choose to remain anonymous.
- If you have a concern regarding fraud or abuse, you can complete this form and send it to us.
- Call us at 1 (800) 323-1693
- Federal employees call 1 (800) 337-8440
If your member card is stolen, you should immediately report it to prevent payment of services to any unauthorized person.
Possibly. Billing for services not rendered is one of the most common types of health care fraud committed by providers. However, it may be a simple mistake. Always report erroneous charges to us. Our Special Investigations Unit will thoroughly research the charges and determine whether it is fraud or just a simple billing error.
No. Once your divorce is final, the coverage terminates, usually at the end of the month when the decree was issued. The divorced spouse is then ineligible for dependent coverage. If he continues using your benefits, both of you could be prosecuted. Having any ineligible person (for example, over-age child) on your coverage will result in an overpayment (if claims have been made for that ineligible dependent) and can result in criminal prosecution.
No. This would be considered billing for services not provided and should be reported to us immediately.
You are not required to identify yourself when reporting suspected fraud. You should never be afraid to report your physician for suspicions of fraudulent billing or inappropriate behavior. We take every complaint seriously and are committed to protecting your confidentiality. Remember, if the provider is filing fraudulent charges under your coverage, then he or she most likely is filing false charges under other patients' coverage as well.
The most common types are intentional misrepresentations, such as:
- Billing for services not provided
- Double billing
- Billing for services performed by nonlicensed persons
- Inflated billings
- "Unbundling," or billing separately for component parts of a medical procedure
- "Upcoding," or billing for a higher level of service than what was performed
- Billing for services originally advertised as "free"
- Over-utilization of services
- Billing noncovered services as covered services
Other examples of fraud include:
- Waiving deductibles and copays (for example, "I'll take what the insurance pays" or "I'll just add a few services to cover the deductible")
- Prescribing, then offering to buy back powerful narcotics after the insurance has paid for the prescription
Conduct an audit of accounts receivable and accounts payable. Then, limit the ability of any one person to misappropriate the accounts receivable. Finally, notify us of any false payments or misappropriated checks for further investigation.
You should decline the offer and notify the local State Department of Insurance and/or the SIU of the insurance company.
These telephone calls are not authorized by or affiliated with BridgeSpan Health, BlueCross BlueShield or the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Our Customer Service teams do not place outbound calls requesting our members' information. Do not give out any personal information to the caller.