Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Government needs to police Internet more carefully. Waste, fraud, and abuse in the United States clocked $98 billion in year 2009, 38 percent more than 2008, according to Input -- a market research firm. And online healthcare fraud is one of the biggest culprits. Input found that $24 billion of the total loss came from Medicare, with an additional $18 million from Medicaid. At present, individuals or shady government contractors find it easy to hoodwink the government online, Input researchers find. Those applying for federal aid rarely need to visit government offices. "It becomes easier to, say, collect unemployment when you shouldn't," says Angie Petty, senior research analyst at Input, simply because forms can be filled out online. Verifying that data can be extremely difficult. The Internet's cheap."The difference between the Internet and previously available means is that it's very expensive to send out regular mail, but you can provide [...]