"A sound, well written, and highly interesting examination of how Medicaid . . . has given far too many physicians an opportunity to 'mop up' fraudulently, for their own financial gain, some of the $61 billion annual cost of the program."--Marshall B. Clinard, author of "The Abuse of Corporate Power" "A searching analysis of a problem that is of enormous concern to every nation. It is a lively, insightful treatment of the Medicaid malady, using the best diagnostics available to contemporary criminology."--John Braithwaite, Australian National University
Who steals? An extraordinary range of folk -- from low-life hoods who sign on as Medicare or Medicaid providers equipped with nothing more than beepers and mailboxes, to drug trafficking organizations, organized crime syndicates, and even major hospital chains. In License to Steal, Malcolm K. Sparrow shows how the industry's defenses, which focus mostly on finding and correcting billing errors, are no match for such well orchestrated attacks. The maxim for thieves simply becomes "bill your lies correctly." Provided they do that, fraud perpetrators with any degree of sophistication can steal millions of dollars with impunity, testing payment systems carefully, and then spreading fraudulent billings widely enough across patient and provider accounts to escape detection. The kinds of highly automated, quality controlled claims processing systems that pervade the industry present fraud perpetrators with their favorite kind of target: rich, fast paying, transparent, utterly predictable check printing systems, with little threat of human intervention, and with the U.S. Treasury on the end of the electronic line. Sparrow picks apart the industry's response to the government's efforts to control this problem. The provider associations (well heeled and politically influential) have vociferously opposed almost every recent enforcement initiative, creating the unfortunate public impression that the entire health care industry is against effective fraud control. A significant segment of the industry, it seems, regards fraud and abuse not as a problem, but as a lucrative enterprise worth defending. Meanwhile, it remains a perfectly commonplace experience for patients or their relatives to examine a medical bill and discover that half of it never happened, or that; likewise, if patients then complain, they discover that no one seems to care, or that no one has the resources to do anything about it. Sparrow's research suggests that the growth of capitated managed care systems does not solve the problem, as many in the industry had assumed, but merely changes its form. The managed care environment produces scams involving underutilization, and the withholding of medical care schemes that are harder to uncover and investigate, and much more dangerous to human health. Having worked extensively with federal and state officials since the appearance of his first book on this subject, Sparrow is in a unique position to evaluate recent law enforcement initiatives. He admits the "war on fraud" is at least now engaged, but it is far from won.
Stepped-up efforts to ferret out health care fraud have put every provider on the alert. The HHS, DOJ, state Medicaid Fraud Control Units, even the FBI is on the case -- and providers are in the hot seat! in this timely volume, you'll learn about the types of provider activities that fall under federal fraud and abuse prohibitions as defined in the Medicaid statute and Stark legislation. And you'll discover what goes into an effective corporate compliance program. With a growing number of restrictions, it's critical to know how you can and cannot conduct business and structure your relationships -- and what the consequences will be if you don't comply.
When John Schilling, an unassuming midlevel accountant, joined Columbia Healthcare Corporation -- the nation's fastest growing and revolutionary network of public hospitals -- it seemed like the start of an exciting new career with great advancement and earnings potential. He never expected to become a catalyst for the series of "whistleblower" lawsuits that ripped through the healthcare industry in the late 1990s In Undercover, John Schilling tells the story of his harrowing journey from ordinary citizen and loyal employee to covert FBI informant and top witness for the Justice Department in the largest criminal healthcare fraud case in U.S. history. It began when he stumbled upon evidence-- a $3.5 million accounting "error"--of his company's routine practice of defrauding Medicare. When pressured to comply with stealing from taxpayers, Schilling knew he had to speak up for what he believed was right, regardless of the cost to his job, his reputation, and his family. His courageous choice would consume the next seven years of his life, leading to more drama, angst, turmoil, and money than he could have imagined. Ultimately, Schilling's moral conviction and a little known law, the False Claims Act, paid off by forcing the formidable healthcare conglomerate of Columbia/HCA to pay back $1.7 billion to the federal government. Revealing the personal side of a thankless role, Undercover is a gripping and inspiring account of a long, hard, life-- changing quest for justice. ADVANCE PRAISE FOR UNDERCOVER "Undercover crackles with authenticity as it recounts in a lively, readable style how a man on the inside risked everything and blew the whistle on a giant healthcare company that was systematically looting the Medicare program out of billions. A good read for anyone, but a must-read for someone who may contemplate taking the same path as John Schilling" -- John R. Phillips, "The nation's premier whistleblowing attorney" according to the The Wall Street Journal and the National Law Journal "John Schilling's book is a must-read for whistleblowers. He shows you how hard it can be, yet also shows you how to prevail. Best of all, John shows you how to be a good citizen" -- Jim Moorman, past President, Taxpayers Against Fraud
An entertaining, deeply informative explanation of how high-level financial crimes work, written by an industry insider who’s an expert in the field. The way most white-collar crime works is by manipulating institutional psychology. That means creating something that looks as much as possible like a normal set of transactions. The drama comes later, when it all unwinds. Financial crime seems horribly complicated, but there are only so many ways you can con someone out of what’s theirs. In Lying for Money, veteran regulatory economist and market analyst Dan Davies tells the story of fraud through a genealogy of financial malfeasance, including: the Great Salad Oil swindle, the Pigeon King International fraud, the fictional British colony of Poyais in South America, the Boston Ladies’ Deposit Company, the Portuguese Banknote Affair, Theranos, and the Bre-X scam. Davies brings new insights into these schemes and shows how all frauds, current and historical, belong to one of four categories (“long firm,” counterfeiting, control fraud, and market crimes) and operate on the same basic principles. The only elements that change are the victims, the scammers, and the terminology. Davies has years of experience picking the bones out of some of the most famous frauds of the modern age. Now he reveals the big picture that emerges from their labyrinths of deceit and explains how fraud has shaped the entire development of the modern world economy.
