Houston partner Scott McBride and associate Ameena Ashfaq co-authored an article, "Thieves and Beggars in an Aggressive Medicare Fraud Enforcement Climate," which was published in the March 24, 2010, edition of the Bureau of Nationa Affairs' Health Care Fraud Report.
According to McBride and Ashfaq, "Government health care programs are seductive targets for health care fraud, particularly in light of the ease of entry, profitability, and lower criminal penalties for crimes related to health care fraud . . . Therefore, in a bipartisan effort, Congress, the Obama administration, and law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice and HHS, are ramping up preventive and punitive masures to curtail fraud and abuse in public health care programs and to combat the thieves."
The authors continue: "But while the rally cry is made against thieves, legitimate health care providers could quickly become beggars in the Medicare and Medicaid system as providers experience lower payments, increased costs, and the potential to be drawn into fraud and compliance investigations based on regulatory and reimbursement rules that are not always clear. Consequently, as all signs point to increased scrutiny and audits, health care providers should use this opportunity to get their compliance house in order and prepare now for the enhanced scrutiny to come."
Click to read "Thieves and Beggars in an Aggressive Medicare Fraud Enforcement Climate" in its entirety.