Billing for Care Not Provided
Benefits such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security make up the largest part of the federal government’s budget; over 65% goes toward these programs. The money to pay for these services comes from taxes, nearly half from income tax. Medicare fraud hurts all of us by putting our hard-earned taxpayer money into the pockets of criminals who don’t seem to care that when they rob the government, they rob all of us.
The government needs help rooting out health care fraud, and they’ve enacted laws that encourage people to come forward and blow the whistle on fraud by providing them with a financial incentive to do so. The health care fraud attorneys at Stacey Evans Law in Atlanta help whistleblowers throughout Georgia shine a light on Medicare fraud at their workplaces and recover significant compensation for their efforts in the process. We also protect whistleblowers from retaliation or help them recover money damages if they are wrongfully terminated or otherwise punished for blowing the whistle or participating in a government investigation.
Billing for care not provided is one of the most common types of fraud committed by medical providers. Learn more about this devious practice below, and contact the health care fraud attorneys at Stacey Evans Law if you suspect this fraudulent behavior occurring at the Georgia hospital or doctor’s office where you work.
How Medical Providers Bill for Care They Didn’t Provide
Medical facilities have many different ways they can bill for services or care that they didn’t provide. Common schemes include:
- Submitting fake invoices for medical services that weren’t performed
- Generating documentation for medications that were never actually prescribed to the patient
- Creating bills for lab work or screenings that were never done
This type of Medicare fraud is especially common in nursing homes and assisted living facilities where patients are not privy to the billing side of their health care and might not have the capacity to testify about what procedures or care they did or didn’t receive.
How Whistleblowers Hold Doctors Accountable for Billing for Care Not Provided
As far back as 1863, during the American Civil War, Congress passed the False Claims Act to stop fraud against the government. This law allows for qui tam legal actions, where private citizens bring whistleblower lawsuits on behalf of the government. Doctors who commit health care fraud by billing Medicare for services they didn’t provide can be forced to reimburse the government for three times the amount of money they stole from the government. If the scheme was large or went on for years, the amount of the defendant’s liability can be quite large.
To compensate individuals for speaking out and filing a qui tam action, the False Claims Act awards them with anywhere from 15 to 30% of the amount recovered depending on the individual’s level of involvement with the case. In some cases, the government takes over and handles most of the litigation, but you can still recover as much as 25% of the take for your bravery and involvement.
The attorneys at Stacey Evans Law commit a great deal of their practice toward representing qui tam plaintiffs in False Claims Act cases dealing with Medicare fraud and other forms of health care fraud, including physicians and medical facilities billing for services they didn’t provide. We know the law and how to be successful on your case while also protecting you from retaliation as a whistleblower. Call our office to find out how we can help.
Stop Health Care Fraud in Georgia Now
If you suspect that the doctors or administrative staff at your clinic, office, or other medical facility are billing for care not provided, reach out to an experienced Medicare fraud attorney to review the circumstances of your case and help you blow the whistle, stop the fraud, and get compensated in the process. In Atlanta or throughout Georgia statewide, call the health care fraud attorneys of Stacey Evans Law at 404-850-6750.
