Four Miami men have been charged in $110 Million Medicare False Claims Scheme that was uncovered by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. According to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Carlos and Luis Benitez, Jose Benitez and Thomas McKenzie were all allegedly involved in the Medicare Fraud. The alleged fraud happened from January 2001 through November 2004. 

The four men are accused of conspiring to submit $110 Million in fraudulent false Medicare Claims for HIV infusion services provided at  the following 11 HIV infusion clinics: AH Medical Office Inc.; Advanced Medical Rehabilitation Center Inc.; Best Medi Corp.; Physician’s Health Med-Care; Physician’s Med-Care Inc.; Saint Jude Rehab Center Inc.; Global Med-Care Corp.; CNC Medical Corp.; G&S Medical Centers Inc.; Karla Medical Services Inc.; and Best Medicare Inc.

According to the indictment, The Medicare False Claims Scheme involved recruiting Medicare beneficiaries to go to the Clinics under the false pre-tense of needing HIV infusion services.  Physicians and medical staff were trained to fraudulently show that medical services were performed and medically necessary.

Thanks to the valiant efforts of Deputy Chief Kirk Ogrosky's Strike Force Team and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta's outstanding prosecutors, this Medicare fraud was uncovered. We applaud their efforts and hard work.

Five Ways we can combat Medicare False Claims fraud and prevent new schemes 

• First,  we can prosecute people and companies that are guilty of Medicare False Claims.
• Second, we can ask for Whistleblowers to come forward and report the fraud/ false claims.
• Third, we can support the Medicare Fraud Strike Force team by ensuring they are adequately funded and staffed to handle the investigations and prosecution.
• Fourth, we can pass stringent legislation that helps prosecute those found guilty of fraud/false claims.
• Fifth, we can make it easier to reward whistleblowers for coming forward and reporting Medicare fraud and Medicare false claims schemes and simplify the process.

  

 

If you, or someone you know, has information on government fraud or false claims to the government, we encourage you to step forward and report this information. To learn more about qui tam and the false claims act, we invite you to read our firm website on the topic area qui tam.

If you have any questions on the subject of qui tam or Federal/State False Claims, Former U.S. DOJ Attorney, Brian F. LaBovick, is available to answer your questions, via email or phone.

Click here to read more from the United States Attorney Office, Southern District of Florida.

Dear Readers,

Your help is requested today in an effort to take action in protecting whistleblowers. I received an email today from the organization Project for Government Oversight, and want to share this important  information with our loyal readers of the Whistleblower Law Blog.  It is a plea for concerned citizens to send a message TODAY to Congress and show support for passing legislation that gives protections to government employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse. Let your Congressperson know that you believe the House's "Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007"  (H.R. 985) offers stronger protections than the Senate's bill (S. 274).

Please click on the link below and send a message to Congress about this very important issue.  We also encourage you send to a "friend".  We can make this  a "viral" message of importance, to get more people involved in this critical issue.

http://ga6.org/campaign/wpa_2008

It takes only 3 - 4 minutes to complete the form and send to your Congress person and Senators.  

We are asking you to take action today.  June 12, 2008.

Thanks for your support of legislation that promotes whistleblowers coming forward without fear of retaliation.  Stopping Government fraud, abuse and waste should be the fundamental goal.

Brian
 

The annual ABA Seminar on Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement will be held in Washington, D.C.  June 11-13, 2008. 

Since, the civil False Claims Act is a growing area of federal litigation, particularly because of its unique qui tam enforcement, the conference will have experts from all areas – healthcare, defense, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, accounting and consulting, construction, higher education and grant recipients – in which qui tam lawsuits under the FCA have been filed.

Click here for the ABA Brochure on the Qui tam and False Claims Act Conference.

The Baptist Health South Florida Inc., will pay the United States $7,775,000 to settle False Claims Act and the Stark Statute violations that allegedly occurred between 2003 and 2005. According to the Department of Justice this probe involved Baptist Health South Florida,  over compensating an oncology group for patient referrals to Baptist's hospitals. The payments were made pursuant to a contract under which the oncology group provided physics and dosimetry services to the two hospitals.

The Stark Statute prevents Medicare providers like Baptist from billing the federal health care program for referrals from doctors that have a financial relationship with the provider. There are a few exceptions for the Stark Statute.

Click here to read more from the Department of Justice and the Sun Herald on this False Claims Act settlement.

The National Whistleblower Center requests your help in sending a message to your Representative re: The Consumer Product Safety Commission reform bill (S.2045) Whistleblower protections.

The CPSC reform bill (S.2045) needs to provide vital protections for honest employees who report safety violations--such as toxins in toothpaste and poisonous lead in our children's toys. Without these protections, whistleblowers may not come forward to report dangers of products until it is too late. 

Lobbyists, such as the National Association of Manufacturers, have declared war on the whistleblower provisions of the bill.  The House version of the CPSC reform bill does not include whistleblower protections.

Clickhere to find out how you can take action and join the Whistleblower Center in this valiant fight. to encourage Representatives to support families and not large businesses in this legislation. There have easy to use templates at this site for sending messages to Representatives.