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Insurers Must be Proactive Against Insurance Fraud  

Insurers Must Stop the Logarithmic Growth of Insurance Fraud  Fraud is taking more money every year from the insurance buying public.  The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud recently revised its estimates  from $80 billion a year to announce that insurance fraud takes over $308  billion a year from the insurance industry. The US Department of  Justice working with various federal police agencies have taken an  active role to investigate, prosecute and convict those who defraud U.S.  health programs and federally funded insurance like flood insurance and  crop insurance. Yet, the arrests and prosecutions that happen are only  creating a small dent in the amount of money stolen from private and  federally funded insurance.  Insurers have good reason to complain. They are universally ignored by  police agencies when they report the crime. 

When insurance criminals are  caught in the act they are seldom arrested, even less often prosecuted  and almost never punished.  Insurance is the Only Crime Where The Victim Is Required To Pay For  Investigation & Prosecution of the Criminal Or No Investigation Will  Be Done  Similar businesses in the financial sector, who are also regular victims  of fraud and other crimes are not taxed or compelled to investigate  crimes committed against them. No one demands that the Bank of America  or Wells Fargo or Chase pay for prosecuting embezzlers or bank robbers.  No one demands that Southland Corporation pay for prosecuting people who  hold up 7-11 stores. No Regulator requires stockbrokers to investigate  money laundering or fraudulent transactions. The imposition upon the  insurance industry \\u2013 and the attendant cost passed to the insurance  consumer \\u2013 is unique.  Insurers are treated differently than all other businesses in the United  States.  George Orwell was right when, to paraphrase, he had a character in his  novel \\u201cAnimal Farm\\u201d say that \\u201call businesses are equal, some are more  equal than others.\\u201d  Clearly, insurers are less equal with regard to crimes perpetrated  against them than are other businesses.  Insurance fraud prosecutions and investigations are anemic.  What Can Insurance People Do to Change The Statistics?  Work within the system we have: