WASHINGTON--The United States recovered more than $1.1 billion lost to fraud in federal health care programs for fiscal 2008, the Department of Justice said Nov. 10.
Cases involving whistleblowers accounted for a majority of the recoveries, according to a DOJ release. The figures bring total recoveries since 1986, when Congress substantially strengthened the False Claims Act, to more than $21 billion.
The DOJ said almost 78 percent of the recoveries in FY 2008, ended Sept. 30, were associated with suits initiated by whistleblowers, called relators, under the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions. Under the law, people who knowingly make false claims for federal funds are liable for three times the government’s loss plus a civil penalty of $5,500 to $11,000 for each claim.
Relators recover 15 to 25 percent of the proceeds of a successful suit if the United States intervenes in the qui tam action, and up to 30 percent if the government declines and the relator pursues the action alone. In fiscal 2008, relators were awarded $198 million for their part in bringing successful cases.
During the year, health care accounted for $1.12 billion of fraud settlements and judgments. HHS reaped the biggest recoveries--notably from pharmaceutical companies--largely attributable to the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the DOJ said.
“Now more than ever, it is crucial that taxpayer dollars aren’t lost to fraud,” said Gregory G. Katsas, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Division. He added that whistleblower complaints do more than recover lost dollars; they also save much more in “aborted schemes and misconduct.”