Tampa Healthcare Fraud Lawyer
Fraud is common in many industries, including healthcare. Healthcare fraud is primarily committed by medical providers and patients who intentionally deceive the healthcare system to receive benefits or payments illegally.
Healthcare fraud affects individuals and businesses alike and causes tens of billions of dollars in losses each year. It can raise health insurance premiums and increase taxes.
The FBI is the primary agency for investigating healthcare fraud, for both federal and private insurance programs. The FBI investigates these crimes in partnership with local, state, and federal agencies.
Prescription medication abuse is a common occurrence that is often done via healthcare fraud. This involves fraudulent activities related to prescription medications, such as forging prescriptions, altering prescriptions, or obtaining prescriptions through deception. It is a crime that comes at an enormous cost to physicians, hospitals, insurers, and taxpayers. There is also a human cost involved, with tens of thousands of lives lost to addiction each year.
Healthcare fraud can take on many other forms as well. Arrested? Get help from a Tampa healthcare fraud lawyer from Scriven Law, P.A.
Types of Healthcare Fraud
Healthcare fraud can happen in a number of ways. Here are some common examples:
- Billing fraud. This occurs when healthcare providers submit false claims for services or procedures that were not provided or were unnecessary.
- Duplicate billing. This occurs when a provider bills multiple times for the same service or procedure, often exploiting billing errors or loopholes in the system.
- Phantom billing. In phantom billing, healthcare providers bill for services that were never performed or items that were never provided. This could include billing for fictitious patients or inflating bills with unnecessary charges.
- Upcoding and unbundling. Upcoding involves billing for a more expensive service than what was actually provided. Unbundling is when services that should be billed together under a single code are billed separately to increase reimbursement.
- Kickbacks. Kickbacks are illegal and involve offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving compensation in exchange for patient referrals, orders, or recommendations for healthcare services or products.
- Pharmacy fraud. This includes activities such as billing for medications that were never dispensed, substituting generic drugs but billing for brand-name drugs, or billing for medications at inflated prices.
- Medicare or Medicaid fraud. Fraudulent schemes targeting government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, involve various forms of deception to unlawfully obtain reimbursements or benefits.
- Medical equipment fraud. This involves fraudulent practices related to medical equipment, such as billing for durable medical equipment that is not medically necessary.
- Charging for free services. Some providers may bill for services that are supposed to be provided free of charge, such as preventive screenings covered by insurance.
Contact Scriven Law Today
Fraud of any kind is a serious crime. Even though it does not physically harm people, it does cause financial and emotional consequences.
A Tampa healthcare fraud lawyer from Scriven Law, P.A. can assess your case and help you understand your legal options. Get started by scheduling a consultation. Fill out the online form or call 813-226-8522.
