The medical profession and health care in general has deteriorated over the past twenty years. It has become plagued with fraudulent behaviors. It is difficult for individuals to know if they are being scammed. Fraud unfortunately exists in all aspects of health care today. In 2011, $2.27 trillion was spent on health care and more than four billion health insurance claims were processed in the United States. It is an undisputed reality that some of these health insurance claims are fraudulent. No institution has undone more quickly and more completely than American medicine. In only a few decades, the medical system has been overrun by organizations seeking to exploit for profit the trust that susceptible and sick Americans place in their healthcare. No doctor wants to be identified as being out of step with medical practice norms. Furthermore, most health care providers do not want a decrease in profit margins as well. This book is about the millions of Americans who have access to what some would call the best medical care in the world but are being swindled. Of course, there are millions of uninsured Americans whose access to care is heartlessly limited. The problems of fraudulent health care described in this book are less likely to transpire to the latter group, simply because they receive less medical care. This book is about the relentless expansion of medicine and our health providers increasing tendency to only make a diagnosis so that further treatments can be done to increase their revenues. Americans have been taught to be concerned about their health. We are all aware that types of hidden jeopardies prowl inside of us. The conventional wisdom is that it's always better to know about these dangers so that something can be done. That's why we are so enthusiastic about amazing medical technologies that can detect abnormalities even when we reason we are well. That's also why we welcome the identification of risk factors, disease awareness campaigns, cancer screening, genetic testing etc. Americans love a diagnosis so that they can receive attention and health care whether or not it helps them. But it's also true that we do receive too much of it in some circumstances. Some people are diagnosed and treated needlessly by swindlers who do unnecessary or dangerous treatments to increase their profit which is one reason why this book was written. Our legislators have proven themselves either unwilling or incapable of reining in the increasingly outrageous costs faced by patients, and market-based solutions only seem to funnel larger and larger sums of our money into the hands of corporations. Impossibly high insurance premiums and inexplicably large bills have become facts of life. The majority of health care frauds are committed by a very small minority of dishonest health care providers. Unfortunately, the stock in trade of fraud-doers is to take advantage of the confidence that has been entrusted to them in order to commit ongoing fraud on a very broad scale. Another reason for this book is to inform individuals that rewards can be made by reporting health care fraud by becoming a whistle blower. Health care consumers need to identify these health care fraudsters and report them to ultimately attempt to salvage what remains of our health care structure. Fighting Medicare fraud is an important part of safeguarding our healthcare for future generations. Health deception costs Americans billions of dollars. We all must do our parts to reverse this trend. If you suspect that something has happened illegally with respect to medical care, then it is your duty to blow the whistle. Doing so makes you part of the solution. This book addresses the types of fraud which plague the healthcare industry and describes the most common fraudulent behavior throughout this industry and how to report fraud and possibly receive a reward. We must all do our part in trying to save our health care system!
About the Author: Dr. Ackerman is a clinician, academician, lecturer, author, researcher, and an expert witness in medical malpractice cases. Dr. Ackerman is: Board Certified in both Pain Medicine and Anesthesiology, is a Graduate of the University of Louisville School Of Medicine, did a residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Kentucky, and was Chief Resident in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine and he did a Fellowship in Pain Medicine at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas.