attorney for Medicare fraud whistleblower Tag Archives

February 15, 2019

When is Health Care Fraud Criminal?

samuel-zeller-360588-copy-200x300 Those who are under investigation for health care fraud may face years in federal prison if they are found guilty, or they ay face civil charges that result in much less severe penalties. It is up to the discretion of the federal prosecutor to determine if the case will be criminal or civil. If you have come forward to report health care fraud, how do you know whether those you have turned in will face criminal or civil charges?

Types of Health Care Fraud

It can be helpful to understand some of the basic laws surrounding health care fraud. The following are come key laws that, when violated, can be result in serious consequences:

December 7, 2018

Five Commonly Needed Medical Services Not Covered by Medicare

by Gregory J. Brod

daniel-frank-201417-copy-300x200 One mistake that many Medicare recipients make is assuming that all their basic medical needs are covered under Medicare. In fact, there are a lot of commonly needed medical services that Medicare does not pay for. By becoming informed about the coverage gaps in your Medicare policy, you are not only preventing yourself from any surprises when you receive your healthcare bill, you are also increasing your ability to detect any fraudulent billing schemes from your healthcare provider or anyone else who tries to tell you that services not covered by Medicare are actually covered. If you do detect any violations by your healthcare provider or employer relating to Medicare billing, contact the whistleblower attorneys at Willoughby Brod immediately.

Dental Care

Even though every individual requires regular dental cleanings, and many Medicare recipients find themselves requiring dentures, Medicare does not pay for these basic dental needs. The only dental care that Medicare may pay for is dental care required while hospitalized as a result of an emergency.

August 25, 2017

Owner of Texas Home Health Agencies Sentenced to Prison for Conspiracy to Defraud Medicare

by Gregory J. Brod

daan-stevens-282446-copy-300x191 The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced August 18 that the owner and operator of five home health agencies located in the Houston area, Godwin Oriakhi, 61, was sentenced to 480 months in prison for conspiring to defraud Medicare and the Texas’ Medicaid programs: Home and Community-Based Service (HCBS) and Primary Home Care (PHC), which are known as provider attendant services (PAS). The authorities found Oriakhi defrauded Medicare and the Medicaid programs for more than $17 million, making this the largest PAS fraud case in all of Texas’ history.

More on Oriakhi’s Fraud

Oriakhi pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit health fraud and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in March 2017. This came after Oriakhi admitted that he and his daughter, a co-defendant in the case, and other members of his family obtained patients for his home health agencies through illegal kickbacks to patient recruiters, his office employees, and physicians. His five facilities receive hundreds of patient referrals this way.

March 24, 2017

DOJ Investigating How Much Large Health Insurers Charge Medicaid

by Gregory J. Brod

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Based on documents from a qui tam lawsuit filed against numerous health insurance companies, it is clear that the U.S. Department of Justice is looking into allegations that major health insurers in the U.S. are overcharging Medicare. These insurers include UnitedHealth Group Inc., Health Net Inc., Aetna Inc., and Bravo Health Inc., which is part of Cigna Corp. You may recognize these as some of the largest insurance providers in the country. The U.S. has agreed to join the qui tam suit against UnitedHealth and declined to intervene in cases against the other insurers. However, the government has stated it will continue its investigation into the allegations against these other insurers separately.

The Beginning of this Qui Tam Action

The qui tam action based on the False Claims Act was filed by Benjamin Poehling in 2011. Poehling was previously an executive at UnitedHealth and alleges that major health insurers overstate how sick Medicare patients are to increase reimbursements by millions of dollars. Through the program known as risk adjustment or risk scoring, healthcare providers would state that numerous Medicare patients under Part C and Part C programs were treated for conditions they did not have or had, yet were not treated for – also known as upcoding. These particularly costly conditions that were coded increased a provider’s risk score and in turn, raised reimbursements from the government.

August 8, 2016

Charges in an Allegedly Massive Scheme Highlight the Danger of Medicare Fraud

by Gregory J. Brod

Is Medicare fraud really that big of a problem? After all, doesn’t fraud exist in almost every sector of the economy? Why focus so much energy on one issue? As recently filed charges in one case show, Medicare fraud is an enormous problem that costs our government billions of dollars every year. Stealing from the government is, in essence, stealing from every single taxpayer. Medicare fraud diverts money from those who truly need and deserve health care services and puts the money in the pockets of wrongdoers. At the same time, there is also very specific, personal harm to patients whose providers are involved in fraudulent schemes, patients whose health is put in jeopardy because a provider puts profit over care.

DOJ Announces Allegations of Fraudulent Medicare Billing in Excess of $1 Billion

Late last month, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell publicly announced the unsealing of charges in what she called “the largest single criminal health care fraud case ever brought against individuals by the Department of Justice.” The case involves allegations of fraudulent billing that total over $1 billion. The allegations are focused on a group in South Florida, a region particularly hard hit by Medicare fraud.