The scale of health-care fraud: a global evaluation

This article provides findings from a survey of fraud and error loss measurement exercises in the health-care sector in six countries, which show the rates and frequency of fraud losses. The article argues that in a period of financial retrenchment cost savings are seen as important and necessary, but the issue of fraud is often downplayed or ignored as a means to meet some of these reductions. The authors show how significant fraud losses can be in health-care systems, but also how they can be reduced by the appropriate counter fraud strategy, offering a less painful means to cut budgets.