Bill Padding
Bill padding is a form of health care fraud where doctors, hospitals, or other medical providers inflate the claims they submit to Medicare for reimbursement. Bill padding involves taking otherwise legitimate claims and adding in charges for services or procedures that weren’t actually provided or needed. It can involve ordering unnecessary medical tests, physical therapy, or other forms of medical treatment not for the patient’s benefit but solely to pad the bill and make more money for the provider.
Bill padding can cause actual patient harm by subjecting patients to invasive procedures they don’t need and that don’t provide them with any therapeutic benefit. Bill padding also harms everyone who has to pay higher insurance premiums or higher taxes to cover the billions in fraudulent claims Medicare winds up paying every year due to fraudulent practices like bill padding.
You can do something about it, and Stacey Evans Law can help. Our firm represents whistleblowers who expose practices like bill padding through lawsuits under the False Claims Act.
For help blowing the whistle on bill padding fraud at your Georgia hospital, doctor’s office or nursing home, call Stacey Evans Law in Atlanta at 404-850-6750.
What Does Bill Padding Look Like?
Bill padding is similar to other forms of Medicare health care fraud, such as upcoding, unbundling, or prescribing unnecessary medications. The hallmark of bill padding fraud is when services are billed that were not performed or provide no real therapeutic benefit to the patient. Examples include:
- Clinics that order routine blood work, x-rays, lab tests, etc. for every Medicare patient that comes through the door regardless of the reason for their visit
- Ordering full panels of lab work when only a single test is needed
- Nursing homes billing for cognitive therapy for patients with dementia who can’t benefit from the treatment
Physicians, osteopaths, medical transportation companies, hospitals, pharmacies, physical therapists, registered nurses and other providers can all be guilty of defrauding Medicare through bill padding.
What Can I Recover as a Whistleblower?
Whistleblower claims for health care fraud like bill padding are brought under the federal False Claims Act for Medicare fraud or the Georgia State False Medicaid Claims Act for Medicaid fraud. When you file a false claims act case, the Attorney General might decide to take on the responsibility for prosecuting the case. You can still participate as a plaintiff, and the court will reward you with anywhere from 15% to 25% of any settlement or judgment based on your level of participation. Defendants charged with filing false claims may have to repay three times the amount of their fraud, so the size of the judgment against them can be quite large.
If the Attorney General declines to intervene in the case, you are free to pursue the defendant on your own, and this time, the court will award you between 25% and 30% of the proceeds for your participation. The experienced health care fraud attorneys at Stacey Evans Law will provide top-quality representation to help see to it that your case is successful and that you are justly rewarded for your courage in coming forward as a whistleblower.
What if My Boss Fires Me for Blowing the Whistle?
Reporting fraud is a protected activity under the law. You cannot be fired, demoted, or discriminated against in any way as retaliation for reporting fraud, filing a lawsuit, or cooperating with a government investigation. If you are retaliated against, we can help you get your job back along with back pay and any other legal damages you have suffered. Employers will try to hide the true reason behind a retaliatory discharge, but our firm excels in complex litigation and looking out for the rights of our clients.
In both false claims act cases and retaliation cases, your attorney’s fees are paid for by the defendant, so you get to keep the entirety of any settlement or judgment we obtain for you. We’ll also advance the costs of litigation and have those paid for by the defendant as well, so you won’t be out of pocket one penny to pursue your case.
Call Stacey Evans Law in Atlanta to Blow the Whistle on Bill Padding Health Care Fraud in Georgia
If you know of bill padding or other health care fraud going on at your workplace, call Stacey Evans Law at 404-850-6750. From our office in Atlanta, we represent whistleblowers throughout the state of Georgia with determined, dedicated, dogged assistance to seek justice, protect your rights, and help you achieve your goals.
