by Ben Vernia | March 24th, 2011
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 provides an incentive – an additional 10% return on any state share of fraud recoveries – for states with false claims acts which provide for liability for wrongdoers and incentives for whistleblowers comparable to the federal False Claims Act.
On March 21, the Office of Inspector General of HHS completed a review of state false claims acts’ compliance with the False Claims Act in light of amendments made to the federal law in 2009 (in the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act) and 2010 (in the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act). As a result, many states’ laws formerly in compliance were found to need amendment.
In a series of letters to state officials, the OIG-HHS detailed the deficiencies. For states previously in compliance, the OIG-HHS granted a two-year grace period, ending March 31, 2013.
States formerly in compliance, but not now:
- California
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
States not in compliance before, and not now:
- Colorado
- Florida
- Louisiana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
States whose laws had not previously been reviewed, but which were now found to be out of compliance:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Iowa
States with false claims act which the OIG-HHS has not yet reviewed:
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Montana
- North Carolina
- Oregon
