Volumes have been written about the False Claims Act as a tool to pursue fraud against the government in circumstances where the defendant has allegedly made false statements to receive money from the government. For purposes of our discussion here, we refer to this aspect of the False Claims Act as “affirmative false claims.” Westlaw and Lexis are replete with cases addressing the government’s and relators’ claims seeking recovery for affirmative false claims allegedly perpetrated by defendants. While there are still cases exploring the parameters of materiality and “objective falsity,” much about the False Claims Act’s affirmative false claims provisions is settled law.
Not so the reverse false claims provision of the False Claims Act. The reverse false claims provision permits the government or relators to pursue defendants who are alleged to have hidden or reduced an obligation to pay the government through false statements, or who have violated the 60-day payment rule’s obligation to return “identified overpayments.” These claims typically have been raised in the context of cost reporting, Medicare Part C, or related to alleged failures to fulfill obligations under the 60-day payment rule. The government and relators have increasingly relied on the reverse false claims provision to support stand-alone claims or have used it in conjunction with affirmative false claims. However, because the reverse false claims provision is very lightly used compared to affirmative...
A video shows the Green Party celebrating an election win in a foreign language. False. This video was posted before the election. It is a Bengali language campaign video posted by the Green Party ...