Avoiding False Claim Billing for your Practice
Understanding False Claims Act As a healthcare practice, you can typically submit claims to Medicare or Medicaid. Your claims are bills for goods you provide and services you conduct for patients. These federal health insurance programs cover the costs associated with your services. The False Claim Act is a federal law that makes it a crime for any person or organization to knowingly make a false record or file a false claim regarding any federal health care program, which includes any plan or program that provides health benefits, whether directly, through insurance or otherwise, which is funded directly, in whole or in part, by the United States Government or any state healthcare system. In other words, healthcare practices must not bill the government for things they did not do. Examples of false claims include billing for services not provided, billing for the same service more than once, or making false statements to obtain payment for services. Penalties under the False Clai