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Health Care Fraud Case Study

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The effects of health care fraud are far-reaching, and the costs, according to the FBI, amounts to tens of billions of dollars annually. With a struggling health care system, the amount that is lost to fraud is unimaginable and if recovered, could serve as a bolster to the waning system. The steps taken by our federal agencies to eliminate this problem include offering educational resources and tools aimed at educating and warning against such illegal acts.

In order to deter these acts, a number of laws are in place that outlines specifically what is and is not permissible and encourages compliance with said laws. The laws that relate specifically to this topic are the False Claims Act (FCA), the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law) and the Social Security Act; in addition to those law specific to this topic, there are …show more content…
This law creates a level playing field and encourages referral based on level and quality of service, rather than simply based on compensation for such act. The penalty for violation of this act is a fine of $73,588 per kickback and like the FCA, and triple the amount of the original kickback (HHS, 2016).
The physician Self-Referral Act, or Stark Law, disallows a physician from referral a patient to a facility in which that physician has a stake or interest. There are specific categories of facilities that this law applies to, mostly free-standing ancillary services including outpatient therapy, clinical laboratory, diagnostic imaging, home health, durable medical equipment including prosthetics, nutritional supplies, pharmacy and hospital services (CMS, 2016). Like the AKS, this law allows for referral to be made on merit rather than financial gain. The penalties for violation of this Act are up to $23,683, repayment of claims and the potential to be barred from participating with any Federal Health Care program (HHS,

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