Phantom Billing, Fake Prescriptions, and the High Cost of Medicine

Often lost in the cacophony of the ongoing debate over what to do about health care in this country is the broad consensus that fraud is one of the major drivers of increasing costs and substandard care. Leap (management, Clemson Univ.; Dishonest Dollars: The Dynamics of White-Collar Crime) offers detailed descriptions of the players and of existing laws along with definitions of the various types of fraud and how they permeate every aspect of health care. No system, public or private, domestic or worldwide, is immune. He shows the pervasiveness of a problem that affects and is enabled by everyone from consumers to providers to private and government insurers, to educators, legislators, and manufacturers. To combat the problem, he recommends serious educational efforts to help consumers become the first line of defense and going after and incarcerating individuals rather than chasing organizations and companies, which can easily absorb even large fines.