Category — False Claims Act

A major theme in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 (Pub. L. No. 111-148)[1] is combating fraud and abuse in the health care industry.  One key provision in PPACA is destined to have a significant impact on the False Claims Act (FCA),[2] which has long been a highly effective tool used by the government to prosecute suspected health care fraud.  Specifically, the massive new health care reform law includes a wholesale rewrite of the public disclosure provision of the statute—a provision that is often invoked by FCA defendants seeking to dismiss qui tam relators.  Although the amendment is not as radical as some legislative proposals introduced in Congress over the past two years, it significantly narrows the circumstances in which defendants can obtain dismissal of qui tam actions that are based on public disclosures.

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