On the rise

Florida's well-earned reputation for being a top destination for seniors and retirees has a flip side: a supersized potential for fraud.

Specifically, cases in Medicare and related health care fraud are on a significant growth track. These federal cases allege doctors, medical facilities and other health care entities have overbilled, overprescribed and overtested patients. And as health care fraud cases rise, so too have cases against contractors alleged to have committed fraud against government agencies.

Most of these cases fall under the federal False Claims Act, where many times a whistleblower, usually an employee of the company or entity, comes forward with an allegation of wrongdoing. When it's a civil case, not criminal, it goes through the courts process, and the U.S. Justice Department enters it toward the end, for settlement negotiations on how much the fines will be.