Additional Cities will have HEAT Teams in 2011

(August 27, 2010):  Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder and U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius conducted the second of a planned series of “Regional Health Care Fraud Prevention Summits.”  The first summit was recently conducted in Miami, Florida.  This summit was held in Los Angeles, California. 

In addition to these agency heads, summit participants learned of current and additional planned initiatives from a number of Federal and State law enforcement officials. 

Describing the progress made in the last fiscal year, Attorney General Holder noted that:

“In just the last fiscal year, we’ve won or negotiated more than $1.6 billion in judgments and settlements, returned more than $2.5 billion to the Medicare Trust Fund, opened thousands of new criminal and civil health care fraud investigations, reached an all-time high in the number of health care fraud defendants charged, and stopped numerous large-scale fraud schemes in their tracks.”  

Notably, Attorney General Holder also made it clear that the government’s joint Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) program is slated for further expansion over the next year.  As he noted:

 “HEAT’s impact has been recognized by President Obama, whose FY 2011 budget request includes an additional $60 million to expand our network of Strike Forces to additional cities.   With these new resources, and our continued commitment to collaboration, I have no doubt we’ll be able to extend HEAT’s record of achievement.   And this record is extraordinary. (emphasis added).

These additional funds will be to supplement, not supplant, existing health care fraud enforcement efforts currently underway around the country.  While the additional cities slated fro HEAT expansion were not announced at this event, all health care providers, regardless of location, should be especially vigilant in their efforts to ensure that Medicare coding and billing practices regulating the services provided must comply with applicable statutory and agency requirements.  

 Should you have questions regarding a health care fraud issue, you may call Robert W. Liles or another of our attorneys.  Call 1 (800) 475-1906 for a free consultation.

Medicare Fraud Strike Force Operation Leads to Charges against 94 Defendants, including 4 in South Texas

(July 17, 2010): Yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against 94 physicians, medical assistants, and health care company owners and executives in connection with alleged false Medicare claims amounting to more than $251 million.  24 defendants from Miami account for approximately $103 million of that amount.  Four defendants were charged in Houston for their alleged roles in a $3 million scheme to submit fraudulent claims for durable medical equipment (DME).  Other arrests were made in Baton Rouge, Brooklyn, and Detroit.   

The offenses charged include conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, criminal false claims, violations of the anti-kickback statutes, and money laundering.  The charges are based on a variety of fraud schemes, including physical therapy and occupational therapy schemes, home health care schemes, HIV infusion fraud schemes and durable medical equipment (DME) schemes.

Announcing the arrests, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “With today’s arrests, we’re putting would-be criminals on notice: Health care fraud is no longer a safe bet.  It’s no longer easy money.  If you choose to engage in health care fraud, you will be found; you will be stopped; and you will be brought to justice.”

The operation was conducted by the joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force, multi-agency teams of federal, state, and local investigators designed to combat Medicare fraud through the use of Medicare data analysis techniques and an increased focus on community policing.  Strike Force teams are operating in seven cities in the United States: the five aforementioned cities, Los Angeles, and Tampa.  AG Holder noted that the ongoing Strike Force initiative in South Florida has resulted in the indictments of 810 organizations and individuals since March 2007 and uncovered $1.85 billion in improperly billed claims.

The Strike Forces are a part of Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), which is made up of top level law enforcement and professional staff from the DOJ and HHS and their operating divisions.  HEAT is dedicated to joint efforts across government to both prevent fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country.

Should you have any questions regarding these issues, don’t hesitate to contact us.  For a complementary consultation, you may call Robert W. Liles or one of our other attorneys at 1 (800) 475-1906.

Texas Psychiatrist Indicted and Arrested

(July 9, 2010):  On June 14, 2010 the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced that a Federal Grand Jury had returned a 99-count indictment against a pain management physician who operated clinics in San Antonio and El Paso.  The physician was charged with 21 counts of health care fraud, 20 counts of false statements relating to health care fraud matters, 21 counts of mail fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, 4 counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substances and 16 counts of money laundering.  The indictment alleges that the physician “caused to be submitted claims for reimbursement of peripheral nerve injections, facet injection procedures and Level Four office visits–typically involving 25 minutes of face-to-face time between patient and physician–which never were performed.”  Instead, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that the physician performed “prolotherapy” on his patients — a procedure that Federal health care benefit programs do not reimburse. 

Notably, an indictment is merely a charge and is not considered to be evidence of guilt. In issuing this indictment, the Texas HEAT task force, comprised of Federal prosecutors and investigative agencies,  have continued to ramp up efforts to investigate and prosecute allegations of health care fraud.  Notably, the use of “prolotherapy,” a relatively new therapeutic approach, has been supported by some of the best known clinics and physicians in the country. 

While this case has yet to fully develop, it again points out that health care providers must take care when utilizing new approaches, despite the fact the therapeutic technique may be considered to be state-of-the-art.  Unfortunately, Medicare may take years to recognize and cover some techniques.  In the mean time, it is essential that providers take care when coding and billing for procedures that may not clearly qualify for coverage under applicable Medicare and / or contractor guidance.

Should you have any questions regarding these issues, don’t hesitate to contact us.  For a complementary consultation, you may call Robert W. Liles or one of our other attorneys at 1 (800) 475-1906.

HEAT Enforcement Update: Health Care Fraud Investigations and Prosecutions in Texas Increased in March 2010

(April 4, 2010): Notably, the number of publicly-disclosed investigations and prosecutions in Texas significantly increased last month.  Two of the cases disclosed involved mental health professionals.    

• A Psychologist was convicted of health care fraud and money laundering, in connection with various claims fraudulently billed to Medicare.  Instances of improper conduct included billing for more than twenty-four hours of services in a single day; billing for services in a single day which amounted to more than double the normal business hours of the Psychologist’s practice; billing for services allegedly rendered during weekends, holidays, and times that the Psychologist was known to be out of town and away from the practice; and, submitting claims for services and evaluations not actually performed by the Psychologist, as required by law.  
• An unlicensed Behavioral Health Counselor was charged with Medicaid fraud for allegedly engaging in aggravated identity theft.  The defendant allegedly improperly acquired Medicaid beneficiaries’ information, including names, addresses and Medicaid numbers, then used the information to file false claims through a behavioral counseling service the defendant owned.  These behavioral counseling services were billed to Medicaid but allegedly not provided to the beneficiaries for which they were billed.

Since being established approximately a year, Texas HEAT team investigations and prosecutions have significantly increased throughout the State.  Both enforcement efforts and the frequency of Medicare audits are anticipated to increase throughout 2010.  In addition to the increasing number of civil and criminal cases brought by the Texas HEAT Strike Forces, the number of administrative overpayment cases is anticipated to grow as well.  It is essential that CMHCs continue in their efforts to ensure that both business operations and billing practices fully comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. 

Should you have any questions regarding these issues, don’t hesitate to contact us.  For a complementary consultation, you may call Robert W. Liles or one of our other attorneys at 1 (800) 475-1906.