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| There's no such thing as free money. |
This past week I was alerted to a situation
where a chronically ill person was being used as a conduit to obtain goods and
services for their family. The person thought they were helping by “fronting”
for their family, not realizing that
they were not only enabling adult children, but they were putting themselves in
jeopardy.
As if to prove a point, a day later I learned
of another similar situation, but in this case, those cutting the check had caught
on and they came down very hard with little regard to the impact this would
have on the person. Bottom line - if you are caught inappropriately using or
abusing state and federal services or even local charities, the hammer falls
swiftly and can have very damaging effects.
So what types of things can get you into
trouble? Getting money from a local charity to pay the rent, fuel, utility bill
and using it for something else. Hiding income in order to qualify for state,
federal and/or local program. Turning benefits (such as food stamps) into cash.
There are people who spend hours figuring out
how to “work the system,” justifying it by saying, “everybody does it.” Fact
is, not everyone does it and because those that do it create such a problem, the
process of qualifying for certain types of services has become so complex, many
of those who could benefit don’t bother.
Also disturbing are people and organizations that
knowingly dupe the public. This can range from the “snake oil salesman”
promising “cures” to the “charities” that are nothing more than fronts to raise
money for solicitors and not benefiting those who are in need. America’s Worst Charities list organizations like Cancer Fund of America, American Breast Cancer
Foundation, and Breast Cancer Relief Foundation in the top 10 of the 50 Worst Charities in America.
According to the National Health Care
Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA), the financial losses due to health care fraud
are in the tens of billions of dollars each year. A very small minority of
dishonest health care providers commits the majority of health fraud, yet the
impact is huge. Common types of fraud include: billing for services and goods
that were never rendered; “upcoding,” billing for more expensive services than were
actually performed; performing unnecessary tests and services to generate
insurance payments. Not only does this result in higher health insurance
premiums, it can have very negative effects on patients, including physical
risk from unnecessary tests, treatments and other procedures. Learn more by
going to the NHCAA site.
Needless to say, the more complex our health
care and social services become, the more advances made to extend life, the
more scamming and fraudulent behavior seems to be appearing. These issues are so prevalent in health care
that a week doesn’t go by that I have some form of discussion about this. That
noted, there are things that each of us can do to help reduce it.
Consider
the following:
• We live in a materialistic society where
having more is believed to be better. Learning to live within your means is a
critical skill we all need.
• Helping others makes us feel better, so
it’s natural that we want to do it. Yet, we can over do it and become enablers creating
negative consequences for all. Learn more by reading Pathological Altruism: Giving That Hurts.
• To protect yourself from being scammed by a
charity, follow the guidelines for “Don’t get fooled by bad charities.”
• Prevent Health Care Fraud by treating
your health insurance ID card like a credit care. Report fraud. Review your
medical bill each and every time you receive it. Look for charges for services
you didn’t receive; billing for the same thing twice and services that were not
ordered by the doctor. Since many people have life time caps on their health
insurance policy, “upcoding” could end up robbing you of health care
reimbursement down the road. For more information on this topic read 12 Tips to Protect Yourself from Health Fraud
• Because those with chronic conditions
are often at high risk for being the targets of charlatans promising false “cures,”
be sure and read If it Sounds to Good to be True: Scams, Frauds and Quacks
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