Many prominent points can be made regarding the topic of health care fraud in Texas and across the country.
Here’s one: It emerges time and time again in health care-related stories.
And here’s why. The health care industry is perhaps unparalleled for the unrelenting and exacting regulatory scrutiny that it faces. Layer upon layer of federal, state and local laws and rules govern the industry, extending to virtually every aspect of its operations, from medical care delivery to billing. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital administrators — all these industry participants and more routinely point to the withering scrutiny that their profession is under.
Given the ever-increasing complexities inherent in medical care, it is easy for medical professionals to make mistakes, especially regarding their submission of claims for services and products.
And that triggers fraud allegations and investigations.
Which leads to a second point, namely this: There is no question that the medical industry is firmly on the radar screen of federal, state and local agencies and task forces seeking to highlight and ferret out fraudulent activities.
And then there’s this third point, which casts widespread fear across the industry: Authorities in civil and criminal fraud cases are clearly bent on exacting the stiffest penalties possible in health care fraud cases. As we note on a relevant page of our website at the Houston law firm of Hilder & Associates, P.C., where we provide diligent legal defense to persons charged with white collar, financial and fraud-related crimes, prosecutors often “seek tens of millions in damages, years in prison, and forfeiture of assets.”
Such stark downsides render it an imperative for any individual or business that is targeted in a health care fraud probe to timely consult with proven legal counsel in order to mitigate potentially adverse outcomes to the fullest extent possible.
Unquestionably, an accusation of health care fraud is a serious matter. An experienced fraud defense attorney can devise a strategy that seeks to materially minimize its consequences.
