The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have jointly announced the launch of a reinvigorated DOJ-HHS False Claims Act Working Group aimed at enhancing interagency coordination around key fraud enforcement priorities in the healthcare space. This initiative underscores the federal government’s ongoing reliance on the False Claims Act (FCA) as its most powerful civil enforcement mechanism to address fraud involving federal healthcare programs.
The FCA imposes liability on individuals and entities that knowingly submit, or cause the submission of, false or fraudulent claims for payment to the United States. It also includes qui tam provisions that empower whistleblowers to bring actions on the government’s behalf and share in any recovery.
The Working Group will consist of leadership from the HHS Office of General Counsel, the CMS Center for Program Integrity, the Office of Counsel to the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and DOJ’s Civil Division, with representation from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide. It is co-led by the HHS General Counsel, the Chief Counsel to HHS-OIG, and DOJ’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Commercial Litigation Branch.
As part of its work, the Working Group will prioritize:
Charles Dickens famously wrote in Oliver Twist: “the law is a ass—a idiot.” There is little doubt that myriad of Long Island business owners would ruefully agree when trying to make sense of verdi...