Health Care / Medicare Fraud
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You may have been tripped up by the many government regulations governing today’s medical practices or had pressing financial needs. But if you filed false medical claims you risk being indicted on federal health care fraud charges.
Federal investigators will work hard to amass evidence that builds a strong case against you, and they will turn it all over to a determined federal prosecutor who will seek the maximum penalties. If you are charged with health care fraud, you need to retain an experienced defense attorney as soon as you can.
Fraudulent Health Care And Medicare Schemes
Health care fraud covers an especially wide range of activities.
Medical practitioner schemes frequently include:
- Billing for services or care they never provided
- Upcoding — billing for more expensive services or procedures than those actually provided
- Filing duplicate claims for the same procedure
- Unbundling – billing each separate element of a medical procedure as if it was separate
- Performing unneeded medical services solely to obtain the insurance payments
- Misrepresenting services as medically necessary when they are not, solely to obtain insurance payments
- Billing for a non-covered service as a covered service
- Taking kickbacks for patient referrals
Health care fraud schemes perpetrated by non-practitioners include telemarketing sales scams and fake websites for nonexistent health care programs.
Federal Health Care And Medicare Fraud
Federal law makes it illegal to implement or try to implement a scheme to defraud any health care benefit program, such as Medicare, or to obtain by false or fraudulent means any money or property owned or under the control of any health care benefit program.
If you are convicted of federal health care fraud, you face up to 10 years in a federal prison plus fines. If the fraud results in serious bodily injury you can draw fines and up to 20 years in prison.
How A Lawyer Will Help
When you are up against a fraud charge, you will be facing inflexible laws and a determined US prosecutor. You will need an attorney who can help you determine all of your options and achieve the best outcome for your circumstances.
United States Code
Read more about federal criminal offenses in the United States Code.
Questions? Contact us today.
If you are charged with a federal crime, the consequences can be devastating. Fienman Defense will fight tenaciously to protect your constitutional rights. We will guide you through a court system that can be complex and intimidating, and provide you with the strongest possible defense.