Australian Health Minister Mark Butler has committed to investigating claims that billions of dollars are lost each year due to fraud in the Medicare system.
This comes following a joint report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Nine newspapers, which alleged that some practitioners were swindling Medicare and charging for non-delivered services.
The news outlets cited a Medicare expert who estimated that up to $8 billion (US$4.98 billion) could be lost to fraud and dishonest practices each year.
The report listed many examples of such malpractices, including billing dead people, falsifying patient medical records and overcharging underserviced patients.
The minister said he asked the Department of Health to conduct a report on compliance, audit measures and review programs, as well as perform an analysis based on the work of experts who had examined Medicare claiming and compliance….