Healthcare Fraud Settlement Showcases Government’s Additional Focus on COVID-19-Related Fraud
The Dorsey Health Law blog team keeps readers up-to-date on relevant topics in the health care industry. In order to do so, the members of the blog team communicate regularly with other practice groups within the firm for applicable updates from client publications. For this post, we would like to thank Dorsey’s Alex Hartzell for the following post on the FCA Now blog:
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) last month announced a new blockbuster settlement agreement under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq (“FCA”), involving alleged violations of the Stark law and other efforts to defraud federal and state healthcare programs. The agreement also resolved the government’s allegations that the defendants—having allegedly engaged in healthcare fraud—further violated the FCA by obtaining a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP” or “Program”) while certifying they were not engaged in illegal activities. Although this settlement appears principally to address allegations of healthcare fraud, the resolution of FCA claims involving alleged PPP fraud highlights the government’s efforts to root out those who attempt to defraud COVID-19 relief programs.
Read more here.
