On February 22, 2024, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued its annual report and statistics regarding False Claims Act settlements and judgments. Although the report contained the headline grabbing “highest number of settlements and judgments in history” statement with 543 settlements and judgments in 2023, the recoveries for those settlements were lower than historical averages. The recoveries were US$2.6bn, which is more than 2022 and 2020 but lower than 2021, and is lower than each year from 2010 – 2019. With the 2023 amount, the recoveries since 1986 crossed over US$75bn. In short, the numbers support the DOJ’s common refrain that the False Claims Act remains the government’s most powerful weapon to investigate and address fraud against the government.
One historical trend that certainly carried forward was the prevalence of settlements in the health care industry—US$1.8bn of the US$2.6bn. The DOJ reported significant cases that focused on fraud in the Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) program, the largest Medicare component, specifically inaccurate information regarding the health status of beneficiaries to increase reimbursement. The report also noted settlements for unnecessary services and substandard care cases, the opioid epidemic and unlawful kickback cases. The health care and life sciences industries will remain top targets of qui...
CONTRACTOR-COUPLE Pacifico “Curlee” and Sarah Discaya have been criticized by a Quezon City anti-corruption group for dragging lawmakers into the flood control mess. Janno Orate, Quezon City Agains...