The unspoken and unwritten cooperation between supposedly apposing interests to effectively extort another seems a common business practice and it amounts to fraud. Government involvement in the issue often seems to legitimize the false assertions.
One on one, the concept of fraud includes the elements of 1 intention, 2 misrepresentation or concealment of material fact, 3 upon which another relies, 4 to his or her damage. Merely overstating a value between equals at arms length would not be fraud as long as there is no concealment. When representing a value to one who is ignorant of the subject, a seller must describe the property honestly and afford the buyer every opportunity to ascertain the truth for himself. (Dykstra & Dykstra, Business Law p173)
When two or three institutions become involved in multilateral transactions, a deception as to value can easily be passed through to the consumer who remains ignorant of the clouded and overstated value. The institutions can act out a pretense of openness about their own affairs while remaining silent about the hidden deception of the other. This is especially difficult when government bureaurocracy becomes party to the process.
Healthcare may be a case in point. One cannot help but wonder why prices are so high. The patient pays more insurance premium or cash for services that, when researched, cost far less. The hospitals raise the price, obscure the charges. The insurance interests, while pretending to represent the consumer, consent willing to the charges. They raise the premium and their profit as well. The action is deliberate, concealed, relied upon by patients and to their detriment. Government programs do more or less the same thing. Attempts to correct the fraud are pointed at the providers who are burdened with more and more layers of regulation and reporting. It becomes a never-ending circle of expense with greater and greater administrative cost. The consumer has the right neither to examine the books nor to negotiate a fair price. The silent collusion benefits all parties except the less informed consumer.
One on one, the concept of fraud includes the elements of 1 intention, 2 misrepresentation or concealment of material fact, 3 upon which another relies, 4 to his or her damage. Merely overstating a value between equals at arms length would not be fraud as long as there is no concealment. When representing a value to one who is ignorant of the subject, a seller must describe the property honestly and afford the buyer every opportunity to ascertain the truth for himself. (Dykstra & Dykstra, Business Law p173)
When two or three institutions become involved in multilateral transactions, a deception as to value can easily be passed through to the consumer who remains ignorant of the clouded and overstated value. The institutions can act out a pretense of openness about their own affairs while remaining silent about the hidden deception of the other. This is especially difficult when government bureaurocracy becomes party to the process.
Healthcare may be a case in point. One cannot help but wonder why prices are so high. The patient pays more insurance premium or cash for services that, when researched, cost far less. The hospitals raise the price, obscure the charges. The insurance interests, while pretending to represent the consumer, consent willing to the charges. They raise the premium and their profit as well. The action is deliberate, concealed, relied upon by patients and to their detriment. Government programs do more or less the same thing. Attempts to correct the fraud are pointed at the providers who are burdened with more and more layers of regulation and reporting. It becomes a never-ending circle of expense with greater and greater administrative cost. The consumer has the right neither to examine the books nor to negotiate a fair price. The silent collusion benefits all parties except the less informed consumer.
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