The Health Insurance Counter Fraud Group has signed an agreement with its US partner organisation the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association in its fight against healthcare fraud.
The two organisations have agreed to cooperate in areas of common interest such as the growing problem of cross border fraud but also to share information and expertise.
HICFG UK members include Axa PPP Healthcare, Bupa, Aviva, Standard Life Healthcare and Pru Health.
HICFG chairman Ray Collins says: “This memorandum is an important milestone for us. It will offer unparalleled opportunities for us to share problems with and to learn from our colleagues in the USA who are undoubtedly the world leaders in this field.”
Effort aims to create a multilateral, co-operative approach in addressing the problem of health care fraud to make a positive contribution to the reduction of fraud-related losses in health care.
“Health care fraud is a serious problem with a staggering price tag estimated between $67 billion and $226 billion annually in the U.S. alone. I’m sure the Health Insurance Counter Fraud Group can also attest to the devastating effects of health care fraud on the United Kingdom’s health system. In this globalized world, health care fraud knows no boundaries and to beat it we need a co-operative, collaborative approach,” says NHCAA Executive Director Louis Saccoccio.
Health care fraud schemes are no longer limited to one region or country and fraud trends have become more similar from nation to nation. Schemes continue to grow in complexity and represent a multi-billion dollar cost to health care and benefit payers worldwide. Our evolving global health care landscape creates a heightened need for international cooperation between entities dedicated to addressing this problem.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between NHCAA and HICFG represents a co-operative effort between two national health care anti-fraud organizations that are engaged in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of health care fraud.
In describing the value of this effort, Darrell Langlois, 2009 Chair of the NHCAA Board of Directors explains, “In its 24 year history, NHCAA and its members have learned that nothing strikes at the heart of the fraud problem more effectively or more quickly than working with one another to solve it. The sharing of information and expertise among health insurers and law enforcement with the goal of rooting out fraud has always been a cornerstone of NHCAA, resulting in many successes, and we’re excited to expand our partnerships globally to harness the full power of counter fraud efforts worldwide.”
Through its multilateral, co-operative approach this new collaboration between NHCAA and HICFG intends to raise awareness internationally about the issue of health care fraud while gathering and sharing information on the trends, issues, and statistics relating to the problem. In addition, this partnership will encourage multilateral fraud reporting mechanisms, fraud and corruption warnings, and joint research and educational initiatives on cross border issues.
The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) – Established in 1985 by several private health insurers and federal and state government officials, NHCAA is the only national U.S. organization devoted exclusively to combating health care fraud. NHCAA’s mission is to protect and serve the public interest by raising awareness and improving the detection, investigation, prosecution and prevention of health care fraud. Since its founding, NHCAA has remained a private-public partnership with its members comprising the nation’s most prominent private health insurers as well as those Federal, state and local government law enforcement and regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over health care fraud. www.nhcaa.org
The Health Insurance Counter Fraud Group UK (HICFG) – HICFG is an industry initiative to prevent and detect fraud within health care and the health insurance industry within the United Kingdom. The HICFG membership consists of health insurance companies and is supported by the Association of British Insurers and participated by non-member attendees in the City of London Police and NHS Counter Fraud. The HICFG is dedicated to a professional, intelligence-based approach to minimizing fraud within private medical insurance and to advancing professional skills of industry-based counter fraud professionals. HICFG is also committed to raising the public profile of health care and health insurance fraud in the UK. www.hicfg.co.uk
