By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
We are often consulted by companies in the health care industry and by health professionals after they receive a subpoena or audit regarding their employing or contracting with an individual or business that is on the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG’s) List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE), who are prohibited from contracting with Medicare. This can cause devastating consequences since the law prohibits this by anyone contracting with the government or receiving any payments from any government healthcare program from dealing with these persons. This includes anyone contracting with or receiving payment from Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, the Veterans Administration, and the military, among others. It can also lead to a demand for repayment of claims for services or products provided, as well as civil monetary penalties, fines, and other adverse actions.
To ensure that you do not violate the federal laws and regulations involved, you should check the OIG’s online LEIE for every new employee or contractor with whom you deal.
Be sure that you also check for any other names (maiden names, married names, fictitious business names) and the names of the officers, directors, shareholders, and owners of any business entities.
This should be on your new employee checklist (kept in the personnel file) and your contracting checklist for new contracts.
If you have not previously done this, have your administrator, human relations (HR) director or contracting officer do this right now and place the results in the personnel file or contracting file for each one checked.
You might also adopt a form similar to this and have it completed by all new employees or contractors as a part of the new employee check-in process. You are still responsible for verifying non-exclusion for all contractors and employees, but this form may help eliminate some problems from the outset and will educate all of your employees and contractors to the requirements.
Visit our website and view an example form.
To learn more about how OIG exclusion can affect you, click here to read of our prior blogs.
Don’t let Medicare or Medicaid exclusion ruin your professional career. Click here to learn how The Health Law Firm and help you if you find yourself on the OIG list.
Contact Health Law Attorneys Experienced in Defending Against Action to Exclude an Individual or Business from the Medicare Program and Assisting in Reinstatement Applications.
The attorneys of The Health Law Firm have experience in dealing with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and defending against action to exclude an individual or business entity from the Medicare Program, in administrative hearings on this type of action, in submitting applications requesting reinstatement to the Medicare Program after exclusion, and removal from the List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (LEIE).
To contact The Health Law Firm, please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com.
About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave. Suite 1000, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.
KeyWords: Office of Inspector General (OIG) Medicare exclusion attorney, OIG investigation legal defense representation, OIG exclusion defense attorney, OIG exclusion defense lawyer, Medicare audit defense legal counsel, Office of Inspector General (OIG) Medicare exclusion defense counsel, Medicare audit defense attorney, Office of Inspector General (OIG) Medicare exclusion legal defense counsel, attorney legal representation for OIG notice of intent to exclude, Medicare exclusion hearing defense attorney, Medicare administrative law judge hearing legal representation, Medicare administrative law judge hearing defense attorney, Medicare and Medicaid audit defense attorney, legal representation for Medicare and Medicaid audits, Medicare reinstatement attorney, Medicare reinstatement representation, health care fraud defense attorney, legal representation for health care fraud, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), legal representation for CMS investigations, health care professional defense attorney, legal representation for health care professionals, legal representation for fraud investigations, reviews for The Health Law Firm, The Health Law Firm attorney reviews, healthcare fraud representation, allegations of healthcare fraud, representation for CMS investigations, representation for healthcare investigations, representation for medical overbilling, False Claims attorney, FCA lawyer, FCA attorney, representation for submitting False Claims
“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2020. The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.