The Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund Publishes a New Model State False Claims Act for 2012.
As state legislatures across the country begin their 2012 sessions they will without exception will be looking to stretch their tight budgets. This usually spurs a great amount of interest in the topic of state false claims act legislation, and with good reason.
First, the federal government created strong incentives for states to pass state false claims acts. This happened back in 2006 with passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (“DRA”). Specifically, section 6031 of the DRA (Pub. L. 109–171), creates a financial incentive for States to enact legislation that establishes liability to the State for individuals or entities that submit false or fraudulent claims to the State Medicaid program.
The financial incentives are considerable. States with a false claims act that meets the OIG’s Arizona and hopefully now Kentucky) are starting to get word from those states who have passed false claims act legislation that qualifies under the DRA — and the news is good to say the least.
For example, Virginia’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (“VFATA”) has been an unparalleled success. No one can argue with Virginia’s results. In the three-year period from FY 2006-FY 2009, Virginia recovered on average more than $228 million per year. Virginia recovers more than $5 million per employee of the MFCU.
For those state legislators considering a state false claims act, TAFEF published a new business friendly states have state false claims acts….