Los Angeles Attorney Plans Your Medicare Fraud Defense
Moving swiftly to protect your rights
If you are accused of over-billing Medicare or billing Medicare for services or supplies a patient never received, you may be charged with Medicare fraud. A federal crime, Medicare fraud is punishable by up to five years in prison. As soon as you suspect you are being investigated for fraud, you should contact a lawyer. We at the Law Offices of Arash Hashemi are experienced in handling the most complicated white-collar crime cases.
Examples of Medicare fraud
Knowing what constitutes Medicare fraud isn’t always easy. Listed below are examples of this white-collar crime:
- Billing for services or supplies not delivered
- Continuing to bill for services or supplies no longer needed
- “Upcoding,” which means billing for a more expensive service than the one actually rendered
- Double billing for a single service or piece of equipment
- Phantom employees
- Frequently waiving patient co-payments
- Phantom billing
Medi-Cal fraud
Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program, designed to provide health insurance coverage for low income individuals. If you are arrested for Medi-Cal fraud, you could be charged with a misdemeanor or felony, depending on your criminal history and your case. You face the following penalties if convicted of felony Medi-Cal fraud:
- Formal probation
- Imprisonment of 16 months to five years
- An additional four years in prison for every individual who suffers great bodily injury because of the fraud
- Imprisonment of 25 years to life if a person dies because of the fraud
- As much as $50,000 in fines or double the value of the fraud, whichever is greater
- Asset forfeiture
Federal penalties for Medicare fraud
Many federal Medicare fraud cases involve violations of a number of federal statutes, including the False Claims Act, False Statements Act and Social Security Act. For example, a felony violation of the False Claims Act is up to five years’ imprisonment and $250,000 in fines for individuals and $500,000 for corporations, per offense.
Contact an experienced defense firm today
At the Law Offices of Arash Hashemi, we are experienced in defending clients against both state and federal fraud charges. You can set up a consultation to discuss your case by contacting our firm online or by phone at (310) 448-1529. Our office is conveniently located in the Westside Towers in Los Angeles, within minutes of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Westwood, and steps away from the Expo/Bundy Station. We have flexible hours and weekend appointments, and we will visit you in jail to discuss your case.