New Orleans Healthcare Fraud Defense Lawyers

Oberheiden, P.C. is a healthcare law defense firm with significant experience in the areas of regulatory compliance, corporate structuring, litigation, government investigations, and criminal defense. Among our attorneys are the former Chief Healthcare Fraud Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, former senior Department of Justice trial attorneys, former lead prosecutors of the elite Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and other talented attorneys with years of relevant experience and education from the country’s elite schools such as Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Our attorneys serve clients in New Orleans as well as throughout Louisiana.

If you’re facing accusations of healthcare fraud defense in New Orleans, Louisiana, call Oberheiden, P.C. now and speak to a New Orleans healthcare fraud defense lawyer. Oberheiden, P.C. has extensive legal experience in healthcare fraud defense, OIG and grand jury subpoenas, Medicare and Tricare audits, fraud allegation defense, internal investigations, compliance programs, qui tam defense, protection of assets, criminal defense, and jury trials. Our Healthcare Fraud Defense Team includes a former Chief Healthcare Fraud Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, several former healthcare fraud prosecutors, elite former lead prosecutors of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and accomplished lawyers with educations from the country’s preeminent law schools, including Yale and Harvard.

If you would like to learn how we can help, call now and ask to speak with a member of our Healthcare Fraud Defense Team. Initial consultations are free and confidential.

New Orleans, Louisiana is Closely Watched for Healthcare Fraud

New Orleans, Louisiana is closely watched for healthcare fraud by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force is an elite team of prosecutors and investigators from various federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, this list isn’t all-inclusive. Other agencies may have a presence in the Medicare Fraud Strike Force.

New Orleans and the surrounding areas are watched closely, because many of its citizens rely on a federal healthcare program. This increases the number of claims filed with the federal government for reimbursement. This leads the government to aggressively monitor, investigate, and prosecute allegations of healthcare fraud. In 2016, the Department of Justice investigated more than 300 cases. Around 80 of those investigations centered on individual healthcare providers. The rest involved a healthcare entity or business. The agency reported that it recovered more than $900 million in fraudulently paid-out claims.

Put our highly experienced team on your side

Dr. Nick Oberheiden

Founder

Attorney-at-Law

Lynette S. Byrd

Former Department of Justice

Brian J. Kuester

Former U.S. Attorney
Former DA

John W. Sellers

Former Senior Trial Attorney
U.S. Department of Justice

Local Counsel

Joanne Fine DeLena

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney

Local Counsel

Joe Brown

Former U.S. Attorney & Former District Attorney

Local Trial & Defense Counsel

Amanda Marshall

Former U.S. Attorney

Local Counsel

Aaron L. Wiley

Former Federal Prosecutor

Local Counsel

Roger Bach

Former Special Agent (OIG)

Michael Koslow

Former Supervisory Special Agent (FBI)

Chris Quick

Former Special Agent (FBI & IRS-CI)

Ray Yuen

Former Supervisory Special Agent (FBI)

What Is Healthcare Fraud?

Federal healthcare fraud is an attempt to obtain reimbursement for medical services or equipment through a government healthcare program, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, or federal workers’ compensation, by filing one or more fraudulent claims. It includes a violation of at least one of the following:

• The Anti-Kickback Statute. Federal healthcare law prohibits kickbacks in exchange for referrals. Any individual (including doctors, marketing representatives, and business owners) may face prosecution for violating the Anti-Kickback statute for offering or providing payment or other valuables in return for patient referrals.
• Stark Law. Stark Law is also known as the Self-Referral Law. It prohibits doctors from referring patients to specific healthcare service entities if the doctor (or a member of the doctor’s immediate family) has an ownership or investment interest, or if there is a compensation arrangement. However, there are statutory exceptions to this law.
• False Claims Act. If you submit a claim to Medicare or any other federal healthcare program, you must abide by the False Claims Act. If the claim submitted to the federal government is inaccurate, the federal government may launch an investigation into your billing practices under the criminal provisions of the False Claims Act.
• Prescription Fraud. The federal government keeps a close eye on healthcare practices that have an unusually high number of narcotic prescriptions. If you’re suspected of running a “pill mill,” you may be investigated for insurance fraud and for violating DEA dispensing rules.
• Billing Fraud. The federal government investigates the upcoding of claims. Upcoding means that the next higher code is used for a service when the billing is done. The federal government will also investigate phantom billing (billing for services not provided), billing for patients who don’t exist (referred to as ghost patients), and billing for equipment or services that are not medically necessary.
• Certification Errors. The federal government closely watches the home healthcare and hospice industry. The most common allegation includes fraudulent certification for home healthcare and hospice care.

Oberheiden, P.C. has a track record of success in helping New Orleans clients avoid criminal charges. If you or your healthcare practice or business are being investigated for healthcare fraud in New Orleans or the surrounding area, call the New Orleans healthcare fraud defense attorney at Oberheiden, P.C. now. Calls are free and confidential.

Healthcare Fraud Carries Harsh Penalties

Healthcare fraud is a serious matter. You may be subject to civil repayment of claims, non-payment of future claims, and you may be excluded from federal healthcare programs. You may also face the state disciplinary board, lose your license, and be stripped of your hospital privileges. Criminal penalties include prosecution, prison time, and fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you are found guilty of criminal healthcare fraud, you may receive a prison sentence:

• Up to 10 years for each count of healthcare fraud
• Up to 20 years for each count of fraud that resulted in serious bodily injury to the patient
• Life sentence if the healthcare fraud resulted in the death of a patient

We’re often asked about the worst-case scenario for healthcare fraud in New Orleans, Louisiana. Whether someone will face criminal prosecution or go to prison depends on several factors, such as the severity of any injury suffered by the patients, whether the prosecutor is interested in criminal prosecution, and the reason that started the investigation.

Oberheiden, P.C. is prepared to handle New Orleans healthcare fraud defense cases because of our dual experience as former healthcare prosecutors and defense attorneys. If you’re notified that you’re being investigated for healthcare fraud or if you’d like to discuss your legal options, call us right away. Initial consultations are free of charge and confidential.

Signs That the Investigation Has Become a Criminal Matter

Healthcare fraud cases can be civil or criminal. With early intervention and compelling defense strategies, Oberheiden, P.C. fights criminal charges. Call us right away if you’re being investigated for healthcare fraud in New Orleans, Louisiana or the surrounding area so that we may begin to develop your custom defense strategies.

Being contacted by a prosecutor is not a good indicator that you’re being investigated for criminal charges. All federal agencies that have prosecutors have both a civil and a criminal division. This is why you cannot necessarily rely on the fact that a prosecutor has contacted you. Determining whether the investigation is criminal in nature can depend on the legal interpretation of many things, such as OIG subpoenas, the manner in which the inquiry is made or in the way in which the allegations are made, and other indicators of criminal prosecution. Criminal prosecution may be signaled by search warrants, seizure warrants, arrest warrants, target letters, involvement of federal criminal prosecutors, IRS involvement, or grand jury subpoenas.

If you have questions about whether you are facing criminal or civil charges, call our New Orleans healthcare fraud defense lawyers at Oberheiden, P.C. right away. We represent individual providers, entire healthcare systems, and other related businesses. We provide healthcare defense services to individuals, businesses, and entities in and around New Orleans that are being investigated by the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Office of Inspector General, Medicare Fraud Control Unit, New Orleans or Louisiana state law enforcement, or the IRS.

Healthcare Fraud Defense

Oberheiden, P.C. is a healthcare fraud defense law firm providing services in New Orleans, Louisiana and in the surrounding area. Many of our New Orleans healthcare fraud lawyers have previous experience as healthcare auditors and healthcare fraud prosecutors with the Department of Justice. We provide our extraordinary insight directly to our clients.

Advocacy begins immediately for our clients. Our main objective in each New Orleans case is to help our clients avoid criminal charges. Our experience and track record prove that the best way to defend against criminal prosecution is to intervene early and not give the government a lot of uninterrupted time to build their case against you. We constantly work to protect your freedom and your professional aspirations. We begin to advocate for you immediately by getting into contact with federal prosecutors. Usually, we can get answers to the most important questions within just a few hours:

• What is the investigation about?
• What is the purpose of it?
• How long will the investigation take?
• What is the most likely outcome?

Testing the standards. The Constitution requires the federal government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed a crime and acted with criminal intent. We test this high standard in each and every New Orleans case where the federal government indicates that there may be criminal charges involved. Prosecutors often point to billing inaccuracies to attempt to prove criminal intent. However, our New Orleans healthcare fraud defense attorneys know from experience that mistakes happen and that those mistakes do not and should not equate to fraudulent activity. Oberheiden, P.C. has provided successful legal defense for clients across the United States by proving that the inaccuracies in billing are results of organization or human error and did not happen because of an intent to defraud the government. In our experience, we’ve noted that the use of unqualified workers, delegation errors, outsourcing errors, lack of oversight, insufficient supervision, and the constantly changing laws and rules that are involved in healthcare are the most common errors that cause these investigations. Although these issues should be corrected, they should not lead to criminal liability.

The use of strategic defenses. Oberheiden, P.C. has the experience that you need to develop strategic defenses, including locating applicable defenses and statutory loopholes. Many of our cases have been successful because of our use of legal exceptions. For instance, in the context of Stark Law which involves medical necessity certifications, we’ve been able to use exceptions to either mitigate or entirely resolve a healthcare fraud case.

Protecting your professional reputation. We are committed not just to defending you in court. We are also committed to protecting your professional reputation. Allegations of healthcare fraud can be extremely damaging to your career. Rightfully, many of our clients are concerned about how these allegations will affect their future. The media has the power to tarnish someone’s image or spread rumors. Reports are often biased and don’t always include the whole story. Our New Orleans healthcare fraud defense attorneys routinely address concerns about slander, and book news spots and other opportunities to correct misinformation about our clients.

Contact Oberheiden, P.C. right away to discuss your case. Initial calls are free and confidential.

Frequently Asked Questions

We are available every day of the year. Call, complete our contact form, or email us directly.

Additional Pages for New Orleans, Louisiana

• New Orleans False Claims Act & Qui Tam defense
• New Orleans federal criminal defense
• New Orleans public corruption