Fraud

Healthcare Fraud

It's a truth of which many people are unaware: Incidents of healthcare fraud happen every day. Some examples of healthcare fraud include, but are certainly not limited to:

Billing for Services Not Rendered
Believe it or not, this type of healthcare fraud crime happens regularly. Unethical physicians and their patients work up a scheme to essentially steal from insurance carriers. Thus, the doctor sends the patient a bill, though the medical work was never performed. The patient then sends the paperwork to his or her insurance provider (or the doctor's office takes care of this step), and the physician and patient reap the financial benefits.

Though this kind of healthcare fraud seems outrageous, rest assured that it's more common than most people might think. Hence, insurance carriers are becoming more savvy and skeptical when they receive unusually high bills for a single patient with no history of disease. After all, they certainly don't want to be defrauded, as they would then have to raise their premiums for everyone.

Sale of Medically Unnecessary Services
Sometimes, physicians and pharmacists commit healthcare fraud by prescribing medically unnecessary drugs. When this happens, the insurance carrier may foot the bill, and the patient to whom the medications were prescribed can then sell the drugs "on the street" for more than they are worth on the open market.

In this kind of healthcare fraud scheme, the patient for whom the medications were prescribed and the prescribing doctor or pharmacist share any financial gains. So who pays? The insurance carrier and its legitimate clients.

Inflating the Cost of a Provided Service
Again, this kind of healthcare fraud happens on a frequent basis. A physician will inflate the cost of a service and he (or he and a patient) will split the spoils after the insurance carrier or Medicare/Medicaid pays the bill.

If you or someone you care about has been accused of healthcare fraud, it's important to seek professional representation immediately. Healthcare fraud comes with steep fines and heavy sentences; it's not taken lightly by the courts.

Thus, we encourage you to contact our team of experienced attorneys today. A phone call or email is free, as is an initial no-obligation consultation. Remember - the longer you put off hiring a defense attorney who knows healthcare fraud case law, the more you could be hurting yourself and your chances of having a positive outcome. We look forward to serving you soon.