This year, at the Federal Bar Association’s (FBA) annual Qui Tam Conference, United States Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership confirmed that DOJ will remain committed to aggressive enforcement of the False Claims Act (FCA). The FCA has long been used by DOJ and whistleblowers as a tool to root out fraud in government programs. DOJ leadership confirmed that FCA enforcement will be focused in four areas: healthcare fraud including Medicare Advantage (Part C), cybersecurity, pandemic relief fraud, and tariffs and customs avoidance. It is also noteworthy that DOJ leadership confirmed that DOJ would continue to defend the constitutionality of the FCA’s qui tam provisions before the Eleventh Circuit.

Key takeaways

• Confirmed commitment to robust enforcement of FCA.
• Continued prioritization of healthcare fraud. DOJ signaled it will continue to concentrate on Medicare Part C fraud cases, with a focus on improper coding and potential violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS).
• Increased focus on cybersecurity enforcement and data breach reporting.
• Ongoing policing of pandemic relief fraud. DOJ has more than 700 cases involving fraud on COVID-19 pandemic-era programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
• Enforcement of tariff and customs avoidance. As part of the administration’s focus on tariffs, DOJ announced that enforcement against illegal foreign trade practices would be a priority going forward.
• No change in defense of constitutionality of FCA’s qui tam...

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