Health Care Fraud in Florida
The Division of Insurance Fraud is part of the Florida Healthcare Fraud Task Force. The division is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement officers with the various agencies that investigate health care fraud.
Since the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus pandemic) began, Florida’s Healthcare Fraud Task Force has devoted considerable attention to investigating Medicaid providers for billing for services that were never renders. Other investigations target doctors and physicians operating internal medicine clinics in Florida.
The criminal investigations usually begin with interrogations of the employees of the health care facility. In many of these investigations undercover officers or confidential informants are posing as patients.
Attorneys for Health Care Fraud in Tampa, FL
If you have been arrested for health care fraud or if you believe you are under investigation, then contact a criminal defense attorney at the Sammis Law Firm.
Investigations can involve improperly billing the Medicaid, Medicare, or Tricare, prescribing medications in an improper way, or an unlicensed practice.
We represent clients charged with health care fraud throughout the greater Tampa Bay area including all of Hillsborough County, Florida, and the surrounding counties.
Call 813-250-0500.
Types of Health Care Investigations in Florida
One type of health care fraud prosecuted at the state level involves allegations against doctors for prescribing pain medications and other powerful controlled substances to patients without a sufficient medical necessity.
In the past, such matters were regulated by the health care industry. Today, law enforcement officers have grown impatient with these regulatory bodies. Instead, law enforcement agencies have become more aggressive in stepping into and investigating that relationship between a doctor and a patient.
The prosecutions often allege that the doctors prescribed these controlled substances in dosages and quantities that cause the patients to misuse and become addicted to the drugs such as oxycodone.
Prosecutors must provide that the doctors prescribed inappropriate and excessive quantities of controlled substances to patients outside the usual course of professional practice.
The patients then fill the prescriptions at various pharmacies, which allegedly results in Medicaid, Medicare, Tricare, and other private insurance companies paying for medically unnecessary prescriptions. Allegations can also involve doctors submitting fraudulent insurance claims for medical services to health care benefit organizations.
The patients are often “doctor shopping” or allegedly part of an organized ring that obtains these controlled substances to sell on the street.
Other health care investigations prosecuted at the state level involve Medicaid fraud.
If you are under investigation for health care fraud in the greater Tampa Bay area, then contact an experienced criminal defense attorney at the Sammis Law Firm.
We help clients charged with white collar crimes in Florida.
We provide free initial consultations so that you can speak with an attorney about the fact of your case.
Call (813) 250-0500 to speak with an attorney today.
This article was last updated on Friday, July 17, 2020.
