What day is National Report Stark Violations Day celebrated? November 6
What is National Report Stark Violations Day? National Report Stark Violations Day not only brings awareness to the amount of Medicare fraud but provides the public with detailed steps for reporting doctors that improperly receive compensation for making medical referrals to entities that they have a stake or financial interest. Ten percent of all Medicare funds are lost due to fraud. Because the government spends $650 billion a year on Medicare, $65 billion a year is lost to Medicare fraud. It’s no wonder why we have a national healthcare crisis! It’s time the public stands up and puts an end to Stark violations as part of Medicare fraud.
Who created this day? National Report Stark Violations Day started in 2017. It was formed by The Hesch Firm, LLC after founding attorney, Joel D. Hesch, left government practice to help whistleblowers file for rewards. Mr. Hesch had devoted over 15 years working in Department of Justice whistleblower reward office where he helped obtain $1.5 billion in recoveries back for the government from those cheating Medicare. In the process, Mr. Hesch helped the government pay out hundreds of millions in rewards to whistleblowers. Mr. Hesch formed his own law firm and now exclusively represents whistleblowers nationwide in filing for rewards for reporting fraud against the government, including home healthcare fraud. Mr. Hesch has helped other whistleblowers obtain significant rewards for reporting stark violations. To help whistleblowers properly report Medicare fraud, he authored a free e-book on reporting Medicare fraud, and created a website to ensure that the public knows how to properly report Medicare fraud and follow the steps necessary to be eligible for a reward. Visit the website: www.HowToReportFraud.com.
How to celebrate: Celebrate National Report Stark Violations Day by visiting Mr. Hesch’s website or by downloading his free e-book so that you understand the various Medicare fraud schemes and the Department of Justice whistleblower reward program. The website and book explains the benefits and risks of reporting fraud and the various ways you can report Medicare fraud, including Stark violations. If you have the right type of information, you can and should report Medicare fraud.
How to report Stark Medicare Fraud and received a monetary reward: There are two very different ways of reporting Medicare fraud, with two very different results. One is to report Stark violations under the Department of Justice (DOJ) reward program, which pays whistleblower rewards of up to 25% of the amount DOJ recovers. The average DOJ reward for reporting Medicare fraud is $690,000 and some rewards have been as high as $150 million! In addition, if you Medicare report fraud under the DOJ program, the government must open an investigation and inform you of the results. Thus, applying for a reward is the only way to ensure an investigation takes place (rather than just calling a hotline). Today, over three-fourths of the government’s Medicare fraud cases are DOJ whistleblower reward cases. Thus, the government is counting on whistleblowers to report Stark violations to DOJ and receive a reward in the process.
The other way to report all forms of Medicare fraud is to report fraud directly to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which runs the Medicare program. The downside by reporting the fraud to CMS is that the reward is limited to $1,000 rather than the DOJ program that pays up to 25% with no limit or cap. You can report fraud directly to CMS through its website or by calling its hotline.
Here is a link to the CMS website: https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/index.asp.
Here the CMS hotline: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
Overview of Stark Fraud Schemes by physicians
A federal law, called the Stark Statute, addresses the propriety of any financial relationship that a physician or other health care provider can have with companies that provide health care items or services. It makes it illegal for doctors to self-refer their patients to companies they have an ownership interest or financial stake. For instance, a doctor cannot refer a patient to a hospital, testing center, lab company, or physical therapy entity in which the doctor co-owns or has a financial interest. This is because when a doctor partly owns the company it is referring patients to, there is an incentive for the doctor to order tests that aren’t really medically needed.
The Stark Statute makes it illegal for doctors/physicians to refer Medicare or Medicaid patients to any company that it has a financial relationship, including part ownership, an investment interest or any other type of compensation arrangement.
By law, the entire billing to Medicare must be repaid even if services were provided. Therefore, the amount of fraud adds up quickly when a doctor refers patients to a company that is part owns.
Free E-Book for reporting Stark violations and Medicare fraud. To help whistleblowers properly report Stark Violations (or any Medicare fraud), Mr. Hesch authored a free e-book on obtaining rewards for reporting fraud against the government. You can also go directly to Mr. Hesch’s website to start the process of filing for a whistleblower reward (www.HowToReportFraud.com).