The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) defines
health care fraud as an intentional deception or
misrepresentation that the individual or entity makes knowing
that the misrepresentation could result in some unauthorized
benefit to the individual, or the entity or to some other party.
In the United States, it is estimated that almost $226 billion a
year are spent on health care fraud. That is 10% of the nation's
health care expenditure. Therefore; consumers have higher
premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, also reduced benefits and
coverage. As for employers, they have increases in the cost of
providing insurance benefits to their employees, as well as
increasing the overall cost of doing business. The Coalition
Against Insurance Fraud claims that two out of five Americans
want little or no punishment for insurance cheats. Consumers
blame the insurance industry for its fraud problems because they
believe insurers are unfair. The Journal of the American Medical
Association, claims that almost one