Financial fraud in the private health insurance sector in Australia: Perspectives from the industry
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore financial fraud in the private health insurance sector in Australia. Fraud in this sector has commonalities to other countries with similar health systems but in Australia it has garnered some unique characteristics. This article sheds light on these features, especially the fraught relationship between the private health funds and the public health insurance agency, Medicare and the problematic impact of the Privacy Act on fraud detection and financial recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodological approach was used, and interviews were conducted with fraud managers from Australia’s largest private health insurance funds and experts in fields connected to health fraud detection.
Findings
All funds reported a need for more technological resources and higher staffing levels to manage fraud. Inadequate resourcing has the predictable outcome of a low detection and recovery rate. The fund managers had differing approaches to recovery action and this ranged from police action, the use of debt recovery agencies, to derecognition from the health fund. As for present and future harm to the industry, the funds found on-line claiming platforms a major threat to the integrity of their insurance system. In addition, they all viewed the Privacy Act as an impediment to managing fraud against their organizations and they desired that there be greater information sharing between themselves and Medicare.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the knowledge of financial fraud in the private health insurance sector in Australia.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Partial funding for this article was from The Institute of Public Administration Australia, University of Canberra, Public Administration Research Trust Fund.
Citation
Flynn, K. (2015), "Financial fraud in the private health insurance sector in Australia: Perspectives from the industry", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 143-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-06-2014-0032
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited