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Is Medicare fraud a felony? Medicare fraud is a crime in which a person or company uses Medicare patients to defraud the Government. A crime is a felony in which the person convicted can be sentenced to more than one year in prison. Medicare fraud is a felony under the False Claims Act and can

The California Whistleblower Lawyer Has A New Protection For Whistleblowers The California whistleblower lawyer has long been at the forefront of protecting employees and whistleblowers against retaliation, and a new whistleblower law, SB 497, reinforces this commitment. The law gives a California whistleblower lawyer a more powerful method to combat retaliation. Signed into law by

A new Medicare fraud report is out. The federal government loses as much as $521 billion per year from fraudulent schemes, a report by the Government Accountability Office found. That accounts for 7% of the federal  budget. One of the worst areas of fraud is in the medical field. More than half of fraud discovered

Nurse Whistleblowers Nurses are often the best whistleblowers. A recent investigation sponsored by AFL-CIO, National Nurses United, and Coalition for a Humane Hopkins has brought to light medical debt lawsuits at one of the largest hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland. The investigation found that even though Johns Hopkins Hospital received public funding to provide charity care

The Downgrade: A Red Flag for Patient Safety The Tennessean reported recently that two Ascension hospitals in Nashville (Saint Thomas Midtown and Saint Thomas West) were downgraded to a “C” rating by Leapfrog, a prominent hospital safety group. At Price Armstrong, we are deeply committed to combating fraud in compromised healthcare, and encourages whistleblowers to

A Houston hospital was accused of upcoding, a fraudulent practice that harms patient confidence and inflates costs. In a recent case that underscores the importance of accurate medical billing practices, Memorial Herman Health System (MHHS) in Texas has agreed to pay $6.4 million for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law. The Office of Inspector

The Department of Justice recently announced a settlement with a Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contractor who was hired to provide patient monitoring equipment.  Like many government contracts, the contract with this company (Spacelabs Healthcare, LLC) contained a Price Reductions Clause clause that required the company to charge the government the

False Claims Act Cases: How Qui Tam Plaintiffs Can Fight Laboratory Medicare Fraud Medicare fraud is a serious issue that affects millions of Americans every year. Unfortunately, laboratory Medicare fraud is one of the most common types of fraud and appears to be on the rise with the increased number of testing facilities and demand

The Paragard MDL Litigation: What You Need to Know Paragard is a copper intrauterine device (IUD) that is used for long–term contraception. The device has been linked to serious complications, including migration of the device, perforation of the uterus, and other serious side effects. As a result, a multidistrict litigation (MDL) has been created to

Are you aware of the SEC Whistleblower Program? Are you a whistleblower who has information about potential fraud? If so, you may be eligible to receive a financial reward under the program. What is the SEC Whistleblower Program? The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower program was created to help protect investors from fraud and