
By Max Dorfman, Analysis Author, Triple-I
Insurance coverage fraud prices the U.S. $308.6 billion a yr, in keeping with latest analysis by the Coalition Towards Insurance coverage Fraud (CAIF). And, whereas staffing inside insurers’ Particular Investigation Models (SIU) is a ache level, CAIF discovered that use of anti-fraud expertise is on the rise.
CAIF notes that hardest-hit insurance coverage strains are:
- Life insurance coverage, at $74.7 billion yearly;
- Medicare and Medicaid, at $68.7 billion; and
- Property and casualty, $45 billion.
“There’s a enormous and monumental affect that insurance coverage fraud causes to Americans, American households, and to our financial system each single yr,” mentioned Matthew Smith, the coalition’s govt director.
One other latest CAIF research checked out SIUs and insurers’ response to fraud. The research discovered that SIU employees grew at 1.4 p.c from 2021 to 2022, slower than the two.5 p.c progress charges from two earlier research addressing this difficulty. Staffing and expertise are among the many high considerations of anti-fraud leaders CAIF surveyed.
Nevertheless, a further CAIF research discovered that anti-fraud expertise is more and more getting used—a constructive signal within the combat towards these crimes. Among the many key findings of that report is that 80 p.c of respondents use predictive modeling to detect fraud, up from 55 p.c in 2018.
Insurance coverage fraud shouldn’t be a victimless crime. In line with the FBI, the typical American household spends an additional $400 to $700 on premiums yearly due to fraud. Most of those prices are derived from frequent frauds, together with inflating precise claims; misrepresenting information on an insurance coverage utility; submitting claims for accidents or injury that by no means occurred; and staging accidents.
To additional fight insurance coverage fraud, there are methods to file complaints, together with contacting your state’s fraud bureau; contacting your insurer to see if a fraud system is in place; utilizing the Nationwide Insurance coverage Crime Bureau (NICB) “Report Fraud” button; and reporting it to an area FBI department.
“Insurance coverage fraud is the crime all of us pay for,” CAIF’s Smith added. “Finally, it’s American policyholders and shoppers that pay the excessive value of insurance coverage fraud.”
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