As everyone knows, there is a tremendous amount of money to be made in the medical industry. Wherever there is money, there is greed. And wherever there is greed, there is fraud. The False Claims Act prohibits fraud against federal health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare. Those who become aware of fraud, including fraud related to medical programs, can attain significant rewards for sharing their information with the federal government, and awards can reach well into the tens of millions of dollars.
Are you considering filing a whistleblower case? To protect your career and family and to attain your compensation, you will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney. Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be a whistleblower.
The Federal False Claims Act
The Federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733), is a law that penalizes individuals and companies that are convicted of defrauding the government. The False Claims Act was created during the Civil War and signed by President Lincoln to root out companies that were taking financial advantage of the war effort. Present day False Claims Act prosecutions are motivated by the same spirit and intent to ferret out fraud against the government.
Health Care Fraud and Kick-Backs at the Center of this False Claims Act Case
The federal government is the largest provider of healthcare in the United States through federal health care programs like Medicare, Medicaid, or Tricare. As a result, whenever large-scale fraud is discovered within the healthcare industry, it likely triggers the False Claims Act, as the fraud will implicate some federal medical program. One aspect of the False Claims Act is a prohibition on kickbacks, which is a financial inducement for a medical provider to prescribe certain medications, refer patients to certain providers, or refer patients for unnecessary procedures. Kickbacks are fraud because they encourage doctors to make decisions based on financial gain and not patients’ best interests.
Medical providers offer physicians a wide array of kickbacks, such as sporting events or concert tickets, phony research grants, free samples that the doctor can in turn sell, payment for participation in phony drug trials, golf outings, free lunches to medical office staffs, and paying for physicians and their families to attend conferences.
The fraud in kickbacks comes into play because doctors are incentivized to send patients for more expensive or unnecessary treatment when a cheaper or more effective alternative was available. This expense is eventually passed on to taxpayers. Accordingly, the federal government and the Department of Justice, who prosecutes these cases, has a strong interest in rooting out kickback schemes. To make this enterprise more efficient, the federal government provides whistleblowers who alert the government to medical care fraud 10% to 30% of all money recovered as part of the prosecution. This recovery can be modest but can also be in the tens of millions of dollars.
What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?
Do you know about fraud or other serious financial misconduct occurring in a healthcare context? Are you considering filing a whistleblower case? To protect your career and family and to attain your fair share of compensation, you will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney.
Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you are considering becoming a whistleblower.
Experienced Mississippi Whistleblower Lawyer Barrett can provide you with the advice you will need to file a successful False Claims Act case. Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.
