Protecting yourself from the dangers of Medicaid and Medicare fraud

On Behalf of | Jul 15, 2021 | blog, Health Care Fraud

In New York, many people depend on Medicaid or Medicare to help take care of their medical needs. Unfortunately, some members of these programs will take advantage of everything these programs offer. With that in mind, here are a few common ways that Medicaid or Medicare members can commit fraud.

Altering prescriptions

Most people trust that medical professionals have a patient’s best interests in mind. Unfortunately, some patients will try and undermine a doctor’s authority by committing healthcare fraud through altering prescriptions. By altering a prescription, someone can receive more medications than they’re supposed to have for personal use. Other people might alter a prescription to sell their medication for money.

Letting another person use their card

To keep track of their members, Medicaid and Medicare issues cards to these individuals. In a perfect world, each person who was a member of these programs would keep their information private. Unfortunately, people will commit Medicaid and Medicare fraud by letting other people use their cards for any reason.

Giving out information for money or gifts

Sometimes, people can unknowingly commit Medicare or Medicaid fraud by giving out their ID number to another party in exchange for something. Oftentimes, the other party will promise someone money or gifts if they give out their membership number. Since the cardholder is getting something in exchange, they might not know they’re actively committing fraud.

To summarize, healthcare fraud is something that can happen in many ways. These situations can sometimes lead to a business owner dealing with the fallout of getting charged with fraud. If your company needs help during this stressful time, consider reaching out to a health care fraud lawyer.