Senate poised to mark up bill that would expand FCA provisions

The Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing to mark up proposed legislation (S. 2041) that would significantly expand provisions of the False Claims Act. The FCA allows both the government and individuals (or whistleblowers) to sue on behalf of the federal government in cases of fraud.

The proposed bill would expand the FCA to include claims that do not involve truly false or fraudulent behavior or any actual financial loss to the federal government; convert private business disputes into false claims if the defendant is at any time a recipient of federal money; strip defendants of the ability to challenge sham “whistleblower” lawsuits that are based on information already available in the public domain; and extend the statute of limitations from six to 10 years. Of particular concern for hospitals and other providers is that the bill would allow courts to award plaintiffs up to triple the amount of actual damages and exact penalties for overpayments from the federal government that were mistakenly paid to or received by providers.

Tom Nickels, American Hospital Association senior vice president for federal relations, said, “Despite the best efforts of providers and their employees to comply with billing requirements and regulations, overpayments may occur. This proposed legislation would undermine the policies and procedures that providers and payors have developed to catch and correct these mistakes, and would be harmful to hospitals if implemented in its current form.” The legislation, the False Claims Act Correction Act of 2007, is sponsored by Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

AHA is working to address hospitals’ concerns with the bill. For more information on the proposed amendments to the FCA, visit www.aha.org.