Minneapolis Healthcare Fraud Attorney
Healthcare fraud in Minnesota is a serious crime. Convictions can carry severe consequences that include thousands of dollars in fines and decades behind bars. As such, you should contact a Minneapolis healthcare fraud attorney as soon as you realize you are under investigation.
At Keller Criminal Defense Attorneys, our Minneapolis healthcare fraud lawyers have over 25 years of experience handling insurance fraud cases. We may be able to get your criminal charges dropped, or reduced significantly.
We provide free initial consultations to all clients. To schedule an appointment, contact us Today.
Do You Need to Hire a Healthcare Fraud Attorney in Minnesota?
It may start innocently enough as the Department of Human Services runs an audit of your business or practice. The department may randomly choose to audit you, or it may have received a tip from someone. In either case, you may feel confident that you have not done anything wrong. However, should officials find a discrepancy in your reporting or accounting – even if it is an honest mistake – it is possible that you could face charges for healthcare fraud.
Investigations for healthcare fraud lead to billions of dollars in penalties every year. Federal courts have seen a significant increase in the number of high-profile healthcare fraud cases in recent years, and the numbers only continue to rise. Substantial kickback to whistleblowers may be part of the reason cases have increased.
Contact a Minnesota healthcare fraud attorney at Keller Criminal Defense Attorneys for help.
What Is Healthcare Fraud?
Healthcare fraud happens when a person or organization willingly cheats a health insurance company or the government out of money. Charges for healthcare fraud are typically brought against doctors, medical clinics, nursing homes, and hospitals, but consumers can face charges as well. It is not uncommon for fraud charges to be filed against innocent people who had no idea that any wrongdoing was happening.
Behaviors that Constitute Healthcare Fraud in Minnesota
Should the DHS determine that you have committed fraud, you will be charged in federal court. The state outlines several ways in which healthcare providers and patients may wind up facing fraud charges. These include, but are not limited to:
- Altering claims
- Submitting false or fraudulent claims
- Billing for services that were not provided
- Overbilling the insurance company
- Providing false information about patient identity or medical history
The DHS has several strict guidelines that healthcare practitioners must adhere to or else face the consequences. Without an experienced healthcare fraud lawyer on your side, the consequences of a conviction could be severe.
Our healthcare fraud attorneys have seen consequences include fines, probation and having to make restitution payments that could total anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars. Additionally, it is possible to receive lengthy prison sentences for healthcare fraud, especially if the fraud somehow resulted in the bodily harm of another person.
When to Hire a Healthcare Fraud Attorney
Our law firm recommends that you hire a healthcare fraud lawyer as soon as you suspect that an issue exists. Working with a white-collar crime attorney from the beginning of an investigation can help you avoid healthcare fraud charges altogether.
At Keller Criminal Defense Attorneys, we know that there are complexities in accounting and reporting systems that can result in mistakes. While the DHS may choose to pursue these as a crime, our lawyers understand that intricate regulatory rules can make it look like you committed a crime when you did not.
Our team will participate in DHS interviews with you as long as you contact us in time. As soon as any documents are seized following a search warrant, you should get in touch with a Minnesota healthcare fraud attorney, if you haven’t already done so. Healthcare fraud investigations can go on for years. You do not need to wait for the outcome of an investigation to determine whether your business has followed the rules.
