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There are an infinite number of ways that companies can rip
off our government. It seems as though imagination is the
only limit. Any company that contracts with the government
and receives our tax dollars has the ability to scheme and
defraud the government. Many of the schemes are found in the
health care or in defense contracting industries, however,
there are a number of other companies who deal with the government
and receive our tax dollars by falsifying claims or failing
to report required facts. These include general suppliers
of services or products to the government, lending institutions,
educational institutions and scores of others. A sampling
of schemes are provided below but by no means are exhaustive.
What Type Of Schemes Are Used To Steal From The Government?
Health Care:
- Phantom billing - billing for services or supplies not
provided.
- Upcoding - assigning codes with a higher level of service
than those actually provided.
- Unbundling - separating required group coding/billing
and billing separately to receive a higher payment.
- Billing for service, supplies or equipment that were not
medically necessary.
- Falsely reporting overhead costs to inflate reimbursements.
- Running tests not ordered by a physician.
- Charging for defective testing.
- Code jamming - inserting fake coding to get coverage.
- Kickbacks - offered to physicians in form of drug samples
from the pharmaceutical company.
- Double billing by one provider or duplication of billing
by two providers.
- Providing substandard nursing home care and seeking Medicare
reimbursement.
- Mischarging for services by insurance companies who administrate
Medicare claims.
Defense Contractors:
- Providing defective or substandard parts.
- Falsifying of test certifications.
- Failing to disclose true costs or falsifying pricing data
during the bidding process for a government contract.
- Falsifying of custom reports.
- Violating the Davis Bacon Act.
- Charging employee labor to a government contract not worked
on by that employee.
- Substituting cheaper components for those which were promised
to the government.
Highway/Bridge Construction Contractors:
- Bid-rigging.
- Misrepresenting the materials provided or services rendered.
- Misrepresenting the lowest "life-cycle" cost
option.
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