Medicare administrative law judge hearing legal representation

Follow These Steps If You Receive an OIG Subpoena from the DOH

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues investigative subpoenas through the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This agency investigates allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse against Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded healthcare programs. These subpoenas are very broad, usually requiring the production of thousands of pages of documents. Click here to see a sample of a subpoena duces tecum issued by the OIG.

Immediate Action to Take If the OIG Issues a Subpoena.

Immediately review the subpoena in detail to see what it requests and from whom. A subpoena […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:13-04:00January 22, 2024|Pharmacy Law Blog|

Steps to Take If You Receive an OIG Subpoena from the DOH

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues investigative subpoenas through the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This agency investigates allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse against Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded healthcare programs. These subpoenas are very broad, usually requiring the production of thousands of pages of documents. Click here to see a sample of a subpoena duces tecum issued by the OIG.

Immediate Action to Take If the OIG Issues a Subpoena.

Immediately review the subpoena in detail to see what it requests and from whom. A subpoena […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:15-04:00January 1, 2024|Health Facilities Law Blog|

Steps to Take If You Receive an OIG Subpoena from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issues investigative subpoenas through the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This agency investigates allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse against Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded healthcare programs. These subpoenas are very broad, usually requiring the production of thousands of pages of documents. Click here to see a sample of a subpoena duces tecum issued by the OIG.

Immediate Action to Take If the OIG Issues a Subpoena.

Immediately review the subpoena in detail to see what it requests and from whom. A subpoena […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:15-04:00December 23, 2023|Nursing Law Blog|

Court Assesses $170 Million in Fines Against Two Texas Ophthalmologists For False Claims

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On November 18, 2021, the Justice Department announced that two Texas ophthalmologists and their eye clinic must pay millions of dollars in penalties for fraudulently billing Medicare. The penalties were assessed in connection with their evaluation and treatment of glaucoma.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes assessed $170 million in penalties against the ophthalmologists and their eye clinic in Houston, Outreach Diagnostic Clinic.

A Former Employee Blew the Whistle.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the action resulted from a False Claims Act (FCA) or “qui tam” suit. The whistleblower was […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T09:59:30-04:00May 12, 2023|Health Facilities Law Blog, In the News|

How Can I Be Sure I Don’t Have Employees, Contractors Who Are on Medicare’s Exclusion List?

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 […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:03-04:00March 13, 2020|Health Facilities Law Blog|

Mental Health Professionals: You Must Challenge Overpayment Demands from Medicare and Medicaid Audits

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
We have gotten calls from many mental health professionals who have been placed on prepayment review after failing to challenge Medicare or Medicaid audit results. Once placed on prepayment review, the payments are held up for many months. Some providers are even forced out of business as a result.

Failing to challenge, follow-up on, and appeal any adverse audit results can be very detrimental. An error rate above 15% will usually result in the provider being placed on prepayment review.

What Happens During Prepayment Review.

While on prepayment review, […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:07-04:00December 5, 2019|Mental Health Law Blog|

Dentists: Challenge Overpayment Demands from Medicare, Medicaid Audits!

During our years of experience, we have gotten many calls from dentists who have been placed on prepayment review after failing to challenge the results of Medicare and Medicaid audits. Once placed on prepayment review, the payments are held up for many months. Some providers are even forced out of business as a result.

Failing to challenge, follow-up on, and appeal any adverse results of Medicare and Medicaid audits can be very detrimental. An error rate above 15% will usually result in the provider being placed on prepayment review.

What Happens During Prepayment Review.

While on prepayment review, the dentist […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:09-04:00November 6, 2019|Dental Law Blog|

CMS Announces Final Rule to Reduce Criminal Behavior in Medicare, Medicaid

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 5, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that strengthens the ability to stop fraud and abuse before it happens. The “Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process” goes into effect on November 4, 2019, and will help keep untrustworthy providers out of federal health insurance. The new affiliations provision will allow CMS to identify individuals and organizations that pose an undue risk of fraud, waste or abuse and repeat offenders.

Details on the Rule.

The final rule, (CMS-6058-FC), creates several new revocation and denial authorities to […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:10-04:00September 24, 2019|The Health Law Firm Blog, Uncategorized|

Follow These Steps to Challenge OIG Exclusion From Medicare

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Many health professionals don’t understand the significant repercussions that an exclusion action by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) can have on their professional careers and future employment. Whether you are a physician, nurse, dentist, psychologist or other health professionals, if you allow yourself to be excluded from the Medicare program, devastating economic results may follow.

The administrative process by which you may challenge a proposal from the OIG for most permissive or mandatory exclusion is challenging. In most cases, you will need experienced legal representation. […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:11-04:00August 28, 2019|Nursing Law Blog|

The Administrative Process to Challenge OIG Exclusion Actions

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Many health professionals don’t understand the significant repercussions that an exclusion action by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) can have on their professional careers and future employment. Whether you are a physician, nurse, dentist, psychologist or other health professionals, if you allow yourself to be excluded from the Medicare program, devastating economic results may follow.

The administrative process by which you may challenge a proposal from the OIG for most permissive or mandatory exclusion is challenging. In most cases, you will need experienced legal representation. Below are the steps in the process you must […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:11-04:00August 14, 2019|Mental Health Law Blog|