Joel D. Hesch, Esq. founded the National Report Medicare Fraud Day to help whistleblowers properly report Medicare fraud to ensure that a government investigation takes place and for whistleblowers to know about and follow the precise formula to be eligible for a reward.
Mr. Hesch devoted more than 15 years as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) whistleblower reward program office in Washington, D.C. While there, he helped recover $1.5 billion in whistleblower reward fraud cases. He has seen and combatted fraud first hand and knows what it takes for a whistleblower to successfully report Medicare or Medicaid fraud. Joel has also watched whistleblowers make mistake in reporting fraud that lead to no rewards or no investigation even taking place.
As part of forming the National Report Medicare Fraud Day holiday, Mr. Hesch wrote a free e-book explaining the two ways to report Medicare fraud. They are drastically different, with different ways of reporting and different results. This website and the e-book explain the difference between report Medicare fraud under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) whistleblower reward program and reporting the fraud directly to the agency. He wants to arm you with information so that you can be effective in helping to put an end to Medicare fraud.
Here is why Joel Hesch founded the National Report Medicare Fraud Day:
“Although it was a great pleasure to work at DOJ, I left with two frustrations.”
“First, despite the fact that huge awards are paid out every year, the DOJ reward program is still largely unknown to most people. With hundreds of billions of dollars of undetected Medicare fraud, I want to see even more whistleblowers stepping forward.”
“Second, many whistleblowers fall far short of meeting the requirements because they don’t know where or how to properly file for a DOJ reward for reporting Medicare fraud. As a result, many whistleblowers don’t end up ensuring that DOJ opens an investigation or become eligible for a reward.”
“For over a decade, I have pondered the solutions to these vexing problems. That’s why I created the national report Medicare fraud day and why I am providing the public with a free e-book that shares my solutions.”
More about Joel Hesch
Joel has been lauded time and time again for his efforts to combat fraud. Early in his career, he was selected to join an elite team of Department of Justice attorneys to pursue the then-largest whistleblower case in history, and ultimately helped recover $641 million from a hospital chain. For his contributions to the case, he received a Special Commendation Award for outstanding service. He also received several other awards while at DOJ.
Representative Cases
The total of Mr. Hesch’s whistleblower fraud cases under the DOJ reward program amounts to over $1.7 billion in False Claims Act (FCA) judgments or settlements and paid out over $265 million in whistleblower rewards. The following are examples of some of the Medicare whistleblower fraud cases he has worked on while at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and currently in private practice representing whistleblowers.
- $641 million recovery against the nation’s largest chain of hospitals that allegedly defrauded Medicare under a wide variety of cost report fraud and other schemes, in which $120 million was paid to whistleblowers (1)
- $250 million settlement with a large pharmaceutical company for allegedly overcharging Medicaid for drugs, with the whistleblower receiving nearly $40 million (2)
- $126 million case where a pharmaceutical company allegedly failed to report the lowest or “best price” of its drugs sold to private companies, a price which the government was entitled to receive under the Medicaid Rebate statute, and the whistleblower received over $12 million (3)
- $65 million settlement with a home health care company, in which the whistleblower received $12.35 million (4)
- $40 million settlement of allegations that companies were manufacturing, marketing and selling knee replacement devices that had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in which the whistleblower received over $7 million (4)
- $34 million judgment where a clinic paid illegal kickback payments to recruiters, who in turn paid people to show up at the clinic who were not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid and did not require medical services, in order for the clinic to bilk government healthcare programs (4)
- $24 million settlement with a long term acute care hospital chain (LTCH or LTACH) for allegedly admitting patients who did not meet the Medicare criteria for admission to a long term acute care hospital, in which the whistleblower received $4.85 million (4)
- $8 million settlement against a Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH), in which the whistleblower received over $2 million (4)
Exclusively representing whistleblowers file for rewards
Armed with the knowledge and experience he gained while working for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Mr. Hesch founded The Hesch Firm, LLC in 2006. Since then, the Hesch Firm has been a staunch nationwide advocate for whistleblowers in their fight against Medicare fraud and helping them file for DOJ rewards. In fact, the Hesch Firm exclusively represents whistleblowers file for rewards for reporting fraud against the government.
To ask The Hesch Firm to review your claim in confidence, click on this link: File for a reward now
Additional background: Joel graduated in the top of his law school class from The Catholic University of America. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Washington, D.C., and the State Bar of Maryland. He has been admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Court of Federal Claims, United States Tax Court and the D.C. and Maryland District Courts. The Hesch Firm now represent whistleblowers throughout the country.
Footnotes:
1. Mr. Hesch spent 2,000 hours on that case, working primarily with a team of 8 other DOJ Civil Fraud Section attorneys on the Medicare cost report fraud allegations. Of the settlement, the cost report fraud portion was valued at more than $350 million. The total amount of rewards paid to the whistleblowers under the combined cases was $120 million.
2. Mr. Hesch was one of two DOJ attorneys assigned to this case. Mr. Hesch spent hundreds of hours investigating the allegations and began settlement negotiations with the drug company prior his departing DOJ. The case settled after he left the government.
3. Mr. Hesch provided limited support on the case before the defendant agreed to settle, but was specifically assigned to the case to determine how much of a reward to pay the whistleblower. The federal portion of the case was $75 million and the state Medicaid portion was $51 million.
4. The Hesch Firm represented the whistleblower.
Disclaimer: This website is for information only. It should not be viewed as containing legal advice. Each case is unique and needs to be evaluated by an experienced Medicare fraud attorney.