Maryland Attorney General Urges Adoption of Expanded State False Claims Act

On February 5, 2015, Maryland proposed a new, expanded state False Claims Act that would better allow Maryland to deter and recover damages for fraud against the state. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh urged adoption of the Act, which would expand Maryland’s current limited version that only applies to Medicaid and health-care related fraud.

Under the proposed False Claims Act, Maryland may receive triple the damages for its losses, while the whistleblower who initiates the claim is allowed to receive a portion of the state’s recovery and is also protected against retaliation in the work place. The state’s current version of the Act has allowed it to recover $28 million a year in each of the past two years from Medicaid-related cases alone. Adopting the proposed expansion will allow Maryland to achieve greater success in deterring fraud and recovering funds, much like the federal government.

Under the federal False Claims Act, the federal government recouped nearly $5 billion in 2012. To incentivize states to adopt laws more closely mirroring the federal False Claims Act, the federal government, under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, allows states to collect an additional 10% of federal Medicaid funds recovered through a state action.

Tagged: False Claims Act (FCA), Fraud Types, Maryland False Health Care Claims Act, Medicaid Fraud, Whistleblower Laws (Federal), Whistleblower Laws (State/Local)