Amid this year's last-minute budget negotiations, Connecticut's legislature found something on which nearly all members could agree in the bipartisan, sweeping expansion of the State False Claims Act (FCA). Signed into law by the Governor, the changes will take effect on July 1, 2023.
Connecticut's FCA—located at sections 4‑274 to 4‑289 of the General Statutes—has been a relatively narrow healthcare‑fraud statute from its inception. It has prohibited knowingly presenting a false claim for payment "under a state‑administered health or human services program," or making a false record or statement material to such a claim. As in other jurisdictions with analogous laws, this prohibition is enforceable in Connecticut through civil actions for treble damages (plus further remedies) brought by private "qui tam" (i.e., whistleblower) plaintiffs or by the State Attorney General.
The recent amendment dramatically expands the FCA's scope. It does so by deleting the language cabining the statute to health or human services programs—thus extending its reach to payments of state funds in areas such as education, construction, or procurement, to name a few. Breaking with some other States (like New York), Connecticut follows the federal approach by exempting alleged underpayment of taxes from the FCA's purview.
Besides newly barring the State from raising a false-claims counterclaim when a civil defendant, the FCA's procedural provisions remain mostly unchanged. They include the...
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