Healthcare – lessons from the US

“The man who is admired for the ingenuity of his larceny is almost always rediscovering some earlier form of fraud. The basic forms are all known, have all been practiced. The manners of capitalism improve. The morals may not.” – John Kenneth Galbraith, American Economist

Andrew Durant is a Managing Director in the Disputes & Investigations Practice with Navigant Consulting in London. He heads the fraud investigations team, email: adurant@navigantconsulting.com, or tel: +44 (0) 20 7649 1109.

In 2002, the (then) Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced huge increases in public spending over the six years leading to 2008. The primary beneficiary was to be education. The National Health Service (NHS) budget was to increase by UK£40billion to over UK£100billion by 2007/08. To put this in perspective; the average NHS spend per household was to rise from UK£2,370 to UK£4,060. Where there is a vast injection of cash, whither the fraudster.