Legal Question in Health Care Law in Texas

Re: medical record coding and billing

Generally a person can be fired for any reason or no reason but not for an unlawful reason. If you suspect that you were being asked to submit codes that were false or fraudulent, you have not only a right to object, but probably a legal obligation to do so, since the submission of false or fraudulent claims can result in personal liability.

If you believe you have been asked to submit false invoices there is a remedy available to you under 31 USC section 3729, the False Claims Act. That Act provides that a person who has knowledge of fraud on the government, and who files a complaint in federal court, stands to obtain between 15% and 25% of the amount of money the federal government receives from the wrongdoer. An organization that submits false claims has liability for 3 times the amount of the overcharge plus a civil penalty of between $5000 and $10,000 for each false claims. Thus the government can get up to $1,000,000 for 100 false claims, even if the amount of the overcharge is only $1.00 --

Recently a whistleblower in Pennsyvlannia received more than $10,000,000 from the Department of Justice, and other whistleblowers have received similar awards. Our firm represents whistleblowers and we would be happy to discuss this matter with you if you have knowledge of billing fraud.