Jesse Witten Quoted in Healthcare Risk Management on Medicare Fraud

Washington, D.C. partner Jesse Witten was quoted in a Healthcare Risk Management article titled “Medicare Fraud Bust Sends Warning to Healthcare Providers.”

The government’s recent health care fraud enforcement action against 412 defendants, including 115 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, signals that the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services are more intent than ever on cracking down on health care fraud schemes. Jesse discussed the importance of the extensive scope of the arrests, noting that “[t]hey filed all these charges and announced all of the exclusion actions on a single day to make as big a splash as they could, rather than spread them out over a period of time. The idea of a mass takedown is not new because they do it every year, but it’s much bigger in terms of the number of people being pursued.”

Jesse also examined the government’s purpose in bringing such wide-reaching enforcement actions, and what such actions could mean for health care providers, both in terms of governmental actions and civil actions.