San Antonio Health Care Fraud Defense Lawyer - Oberheiden, P.C.
The Oberheiden, P.C. is a health care law defense firm with significant experience in the areas of regulatory compliance, corporate structuring, litigation, government investigations, and criminal defense. Among our attorneys are the former Chief Health Care Fraud Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, former senior Department of Justice trial attorneys, former lead prosecutors of the elite Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and other talented attorneys with years of relevant experience and education from the country’s top schools such as Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Our attorneys routinely serve clients in San Antonio as well as throughout Texas State.
If you’re facing an accusation of health care fraud in San Antonio, Texas or the surrounding area, you should call Oberheiden, P.C. immediately. We are a Texas law firm that provides health care fraud defense. We also have extensive legal experience in OIG and grand jury subpoenas, Medicare and Tricare audits, fraud allegation defense, internal investigations, compliance programs, qui tam defense, protection of assets, criminal defense, and in jury trials. Our Health Care Fraud Defense Team includes lawyers with extensive and impressive backgrounds, including a former Chief Health Care Fraud Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, several former health care fraud prosecutors, elite former lead prosecutors of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and accomplished lawyers with education from some of the best law schools in the United States.
Dr. Nick Oberheiden is a Harvard-trained lawyer and negotiator. Dr. Oberheiden provides legal assistance to clients in San Antonio and throughout Texas. Dr. Oberheiden is a health care fraud defense attorney and is the managing partner of Oberheiden, P.C..
If you’re being investigated for health care fraud in San Antonio, Texas or the surrounding area, call Oberheiden, P.C. right away and ask to speak with a member of our Health Care Fraud Defense Team. The first consultation is free of charge and confidential.
Although the entire nation is monitored for health care fraud, San Antonio, Texas is directly scrutinized by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is an exclusive team of prosecutors and investigators made up of members of several federal agencies, including those from the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This list isn’t all-inclusive. Other federal prosecutors and investigators working for other federal agencies can be involved in the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.
San Antonio, Texas and its surrounding areas are scrutinized because of the number of citizens who receive benefits from a federal health care program. The increase in the number of federal health care recipients increases the number of claims filed through CMS for reimbursement. In areas like San Antonio where more claims are filed, the government pays more attention to watch for an increase in health care fraud. The Department of Justice released a statement in 2016 that it had investigated more than 300 cases of health care fraud. Close to 80 of those cases were on individual health care practitioners. The other cases on a health care entity or business. The Department of Justice reported that it recovered more than $900 million in fraudulently paid out claims.
Health Care Fraud: What Is It?
Violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute – Federal health care law prohibits receiving money or other valuables in exchange for patient referrals. Any person (including doctors, marketing professionals, and business owners) may be prosecuted for violating the Anti-Kickback Statute for offering or providing payment or other valuables in exchange for patient referrals.
Violation of Stark Law – This is also referred to as the Self-Referral Law. It prohibits doctors from referring patients to certain health care service entities if the doctor or a member of the doctor’s immediate family has an ownership or investment interest in it, or if there is some compensation arrangement. There are statutory exceptions to this law.
Violation of the False Claims Act – If you submit a claim to a federal health care program, you must ensure that your claim is accurate. Otherwise, it is a violation of the False Claims Act. The federal government may begin an investigation into your billing practices under the criminal provisions of this act.
Prescription Fraud – The federal government watches health care practices that prescribe an unusually high number of narcotics. If you’re suspected of running a “pill mill,” you may be investigated for insurance fraud and for violating DEA dispensing rules.
Billing Fraud – One of the most common instances of billing fraud is when claims are upcoded. Upcoding means that the next higher code is used when the federal government is billed. The federal government also investigates phantom billing (billing for services that were not provided), ghost patients (billing for patients who don’t exist), and billing for services or equipment that aren’t medically necessary.
Certification Errors – The federal government pays close attention to the home health care and hospice industry. One of the most common allegations includes fraudulent certifications for care.
Oberheiden, P.C. has a track record of helping clients avoid criminal prosecution when facing allegations of health care fraud. If you or your health care practice or your business are being investigated for health care fraud in San Antonio, Texas, contact Oberheiden, P.C. today. Initial consultations are free of charge and confidential.
Health care fraud can destroy your career. If you are charged, you could receive civil or criminal penalties. Civil penalties include repayment of claims, non-payment of future claims, and you may be excluded from federal health care programs. You may also face your state disciplinary board and lose your license or hospital privileges.
Criminal penalties can include fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, a criminal record, or even federal prison time.
Many times, we’re asked about the worst-case scenario involving health care fraud in San Antonio, Texas. Facing criminal charges or a federal prison sentence depends on several factors, including the severity of an injury suffered by a patient, whether the prosecutor is interested in pursuing criminal charges, and the reason why the federal government initiated the investigation. If you’re being investigated for health care fraud, contact Oberheiden, P.C.. Initial consultations are free of charge and confidential.
Are You at Risk of Criminal Prosecution?
It’s important to recognize that health care fraud investigations can be civil or criminal in nature. Civil cases can quickly become criminal matters. Early intervention by an attorney, along with the use of strategic defenses, can help minimize the risk of criminal prosecution. Call Oberheiden, P.C. now if you’re under investigation.
At the beginning of a health care fraud investigation, you may not know if the investigation is civil or criminal in nature. All federal agencies with prosecutors, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office, has a civil and a criminal division. Being contacted by a federal prosecutor is not enough to determine if the investigation against you is civil or criminal. A civil investigation can quickly turn into a criminal investigation. We can assist you by contacting the federal government on your behalf.
The nature of your charges can depend on the legal interpretation of several things, such as receiving OIG subpoenas, the manner in which the inquiry is made or in the way in which the allegations are made, and other indicators of criminal prosecution. Criminal prosecution may be imminent if you receive a search warrant, seizure warrant, arrest warrant, target letter, IRS involvement, grand jury subpoena, or if there is the involvement of a federal criminal prosecutor.
Oberheiden, P.C. can help determine if you’re facing criminal charges. We provide legal advocacy for individuals, entire health care systems, and health care businesses. If you’re in San Antonio, Texas or the surrounding area and you’re being investigated by the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Inspector General, Medicare Fraud Control unit, San Antonio or Texas state law enforcement, or the Internal Revenue Service, then contact us now.
Oberheiden, P.C. is a Texas firm providing health care fraud defense to clients in San Antonio, Texas and the surrounding areas. Several members of our Health Care Fraud Defense team have prior experience as health care auditors and as health care fraud prosecutors with the Department of Justice. Our clients gain valuable insight for their health care fraud defense cases.
Lack of criminal intent. The Constitution sets a high standard that requires the federal government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed a crime. It must also prove that you acted with criminal intent. In cases where criminal charges may be brought, we test these standards. Federal prosecutors will try to use inaccuracies in your billing to say that you acted with criminal intent. We’ve learned from experience that people make mistakes. Those mistakes should not be treated as crimes. We’ve provided legal advocacy for clients across the nation by showing the government that the inaccuracies are a result of human or organizational error and were not a result of criminal intent. We’ve noted that the use of unqualified workers, delegation errors, outsourcing errors, lack of oversight, insufficient supervision, and the constantly changing laws and rules that are involved in health care are the most common errors that cause these investigations. Although these issues should be corrected, they should not lead to criminal liability.
Using strategic health care fraud defenses. Oberheiden, P.C. develops strategic health care fraud defenses for each client. Many of our cases were successful because of statutory loopholes and exceptions. For instance, in the context of Stark Law which involves medical necessity certifications, we’ve been able to use exceptions to either mitigate or entirely resolve a health care fraud case.
Protecting your reputation as a professional. Oberheiden, P.C. is committed to clients both inside and outside of the courtroom. Allegations of health care fraud can destroy your reputation. Rightfully, many of our clients are concerned about how those allegations will affect them. The media has the power to destroy your reputation by creating and spreading rumors. Our Health Care Fraud Defense Team addresses your concerns about slander, and we look for opportunities to correct misinformation about our clients.
Oberheiden, P.C. has provided legal advocacy for clients throughout the United States who faced allegations of health care fraud. Call us now to learn more about how we can help. The call is free and it’s confidential.