If you are on Medicare, it is probably because you need help with your medical expenses. And while you may find the benefits of the program necessary, unfortunately, some Americans try to use federally-funded health care to fraudulently provide for their individual interests.
Since Medicare fraud is expensive and contributes to increased taxes and overall health care costs, it is important to prevent the abuse of the system. But are you familiar with the ways you can reduce Medicare fraud?
Head of U.S. sales for Fiat Chrysler Reid Bigland, filed a whistleblower protection suit against the automaker on June 5, alleging the company retaliated against him for participating in a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bigland claims Fiat Chrysler withheld 90% of his pay when the company learned he cooperated in an investigation by the SEC into the company's sales-reporting practices. The company is reportedly under scrutiny for continuing to report impressive sales for 75 months when consecutive sales gains really ended in 2013.
Many health care providers require their physicians to sign non-compete agreements. Some patients have faced the nightmare scenario of trying to call the physician who's been caring for them throughout a serious illness, only to be told the doctor is simply gone. No further information is available.
Public attitudes toward non-competes are not especially positive, and some states have imposed greater limits on physician non-competes. New York is not among them, but such contracts do have limitations in New York.
For a year now, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reviewed the ways that Congress communicated with federal whistleblowers and handled their information. And at the beginning of May, the GAO finally released the updates they plan to make so that they can better protect whistleblowers.
The name Julian Assange is in the news once again. He is most well-known for founding WikiLeaks, which exposes human rights violations and corruption worldwide. Many of the news stories about Assange and his recent arrest refer to him as a whistleblower.
However—as the name of his organization would suggest—the term that best fits his situation is leaking. His website allows people to leak information to the public.
Everyone knows that drug reps meet with doctors and offer them gifts to increase the number of prescriptions for their medications. But what happens when the doctors don’t want to meet with the reps? The pharmaceuticals might start bribing the doctors’ office staff.
This was one of the revelations in a recent suit filed against Mallinckrodt. Its H.P. Acthar Gel was designed to treat infants’ seizures but was sold for other issues like MS and rheumatoid arthritis as its price skyrocketed from $40 a vial in 2000 to nearly $39,000 today. The suit ties the outrageous price increases to bribes the company offered doctors in the form of lucrative speaking engagements and other kickbacks. But, in a twist, it also puts office workers squarely on the front lines.
When a whistleblower decides to voice their concerns, they take a great risk with the hope that they can benefit and protect others. Unfortunately, things do not always turn out how they plan.
Big corporations often ignore whistleblowers. And sometimes, their claims are overlooked. This might have been the case with the whistleblowers from Boeing.
The Government Accountability Project published a timeline of whistleblowers throughout the United States history. The timeline dates back to 1773, setting up a long history of whistleblowing—before the term “whistleblowing” even existed.
Whistleblowers have played an essential role in U.S. society since the country's founding. However, the methods of whistleblowing have changed over the years.
Whistleblowers play a huge part in keeping our industries honest, and nowhere is their dedication more important than in the medical industry. Without their oversight and action, billions of dollars may end up wasted, as shown by a recent suit against a pain management chain.
Federal lawsuits accuse Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS) of committing at least five different forms of fraud. They also draw attention toward the rapid rise of urine testing and the ways fraudulent testing may be increasing the costs of health care.
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