ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER

Health Care Fraud At Its Ugliest

Sometimes stories of fraud just stop you in your tracks. This is one such case. Recently, state authorities rescued 60 residents of a nursing home after their food ran out and trash piled up. Food and services bills hadn’t been paid. Resident were starving and surrounded by garbage. The owner had received Medicaid reimbursements of $667,000 and, rather than use it to run the nursing home, spent it himself on gambling, drinking, and outings at strip clubs. Yes, it’s as heinous as it gets. Ultimately, the owner plead guilty to stealing from Medicaid and was sentenced to years in prison. If you or a loved one suspect Medicaid or Medicare fraud or suffer from neglect or abuse in a nursing home, contact the health care, elder abuse and fraud lawyers at Evans Law Firm at (415)441-8669, and we can help.

Of course, not all cases of Medicare and Medicaid fraud are as sordid as this one. Often, the graft is more subtle and practically unnoticed. Until it’s too late. Health care fraud costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year and the physical and emotional toll of the resultant abuse is unaccountable. Under the federal and California False Claims Acts, citizens, as whistleblowers to the crimes, can help the government prosecute the wrongdoing. Whistleblowers are rewarded for their efforts by bounties of up to 25% of the recovery. Whistleblower cases are complicated and the time frames to bring cases are short, so seek the help of professionals if you suspect fraud or false claims.

Often, your suspicions begin when the level of care and attention deteriorate at a nursing home or other medical facility. If government reimbursements are being diverted illegally, services and staffing suffer first. When you know a nursing home is being reimbursed by the government, the curtails and shortages may not make sense. Share your suspicions with a professional before it’s too late and your loved suffers even greater harm like the residents in this story. Fortunately, they were relocated and lives were saved. But the take away is surely to act on suspicions before it’s too late.

Contact Us

If you have information regarding Medicare or Medicaid fraud, or nursing home abuse, and are looking to be a whistleblower in San Mateo County or in any California county, contact the Evans Law Firm elder attorneys at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com. Our attorneys have experience with complex qui tam or whistleblower cases, and cases against large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.