Healthcare fraud is a serious crime. When healthcare providers pay out money for services that are claimed fraudulently, there is not enough money left in the fund to cover the necessary medical expenses of other members, forcing the schemes to cut benefits. Usually, it is the honest people who suffer.

What Constitutes a Healthcare Fraud?

The most straightforward explanation of healthcare fraud is misleading a healthcare provider into paying for medical tests and prescription medicines that the patient does not need. It can be as innocent as a doctor ordering too many tests (just to be sure of the diagnosis) or as perverse as doctors and pharmacists putting through claims for services not actually delivered (making up claims for fictitious patients). If you are unsure about any charges against you, ask a health care fraud lawyers in Dallas Texas.

Why Would You Need a Lawyer When Accused of Healthcare Fraud?

What are the health care fraud laws in Dallas Texas? Both state and federal governments can prosecute health care fraud. Most fraud prosecuted at the federal level is committed by organized groups of healthcare providers, including doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers. These cases are usually charged as a conspiracy. In other words, if a medical receptionist is aware that the doctor is putting in claims for fictitious patients or charging for services not done, they are also liable as a conspirator to commit fraud.

If you find yourself under investigation in Dallas County, Texas, you need to ensure your interests are represented by an experienced lawyer who can protect your interests. Craig Watkins is a former elected District Attorney who works hard to ensure that innocent people are not convicted of crimes they did not commit. As a District Attorney, his Conviction Integrity Unit has exonerated 35 wrongfully sentenced people.

How Hiring a Lawyer Could Help You

Your practice is based on trust as a medical provider (or one who works for a medical provider). If you are accused of committing medical fraud, your patients will no longer trust you, and you may have to give up your medical license. So, can a lawyer help you for health care fraud? Most healthcare fraud cases are punishable by prison sentences with imprisonment lasting up to ten years. Having a lawyer in your corner can overturn the charges and restore your good name, especially if the alleged fraud occurred due to an honest mistake in billing. It can happen to the best of us, considering the coding system used by medical aids and Medicare is complex and difficult to understand.

The second benefit of hiring a lawyer to defend you in a health care fraud case is that a lawyer will help you collect appropriate evidence. When a fraud case is investigated, there is an onus on the government to present the evidence of defrauding the health service. An experienced lawyer will help you ensure that the evidence brought against you is legitimate and not bogus, which will help you fight your case.