Amid the chaos of the past few weeks—sweeping executive orders, relentless cost-cutting, and an air of uncertainty that lingers like smoke after a fire—federal contractors have been left reeling, straining to hear what comes...more
Just how broad is the scope of the False Claims Act (FCA)? That is the basic question posed in Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Heath, No. 23-1127. Put more directly, the case addresses whether reimbursement requests...more
10/24/2024
/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Rates ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fannie Mae ,
FCC ,
Freddie Mac ,
Reimbursements ,
Relators ,
SCOTUS ,
Telecommunications ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Universal Service Fund ,
USAC
Parties litigating False Claims Act (FCA) cases have long struggled with a thorny question around the essential element of scienter (the defendant’s intent, or state of mind): What/how much does a contractor need to know when...more
6/9/2023
/ Contractors ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Invoices ,
Medicare ,
Personal Knowledge ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reasonable Interpretations ,
Scienter ,
SCOTUS ,
US ex rel Tracy Schutte et al v SuperValu Inc et al
Most experienced contractors have a healthy fear of the various types of fraud claims: False Claims Act, federal and state wire and mail fraud, common law fraud, etc. They know that enforcement authorities are always looking...more
5/22/2023
/ Bid Solicitation ,
Ciminelli v US ,
Collusion ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Mail Fraud ,
Management Fees ,
Price-Fixing ,
Right to Control ,
SCOTUS ,
Wire Fraud
One of the most dynamic areas of the law that is of keen concern to federal contractors is the issue of employee noncompetition agreements (NCAs). Historically, NCAs were a common and valuable tool employers used to protect...more
Scenario 1: A pharmacy chain hires a value consultant to review its Medicare and Medicaid billing practices for ways to optimize the coding of drug reimbursements to maximize profits. Drugs that had historically been charged...more
2/3/2023
/ Billing ,
CFOs ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Reasonableness Factors ,
Reimbursements ,
SCOTUS
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF, or Strike Force) celebrates its third anniversary this month. Formed in November 2019 as an interagency partnership consisting of DOJ’s antitrust...more
As COVID-19 antibodies begin flooding the immune systems of most Americans, it is important to remember the important role that hygiene has played over the past fifteen months. For many, the risks and dangers of the pandemic...more
6/16/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Business Associates Agreement (BAA) ,
Buy American Act ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Information Technology ,
Joe Biden ,
Masks ,
Sanitation ,
Supply Chain ,
Trade Agreements Act ,
Trading Advisory Agreements (TAAs) ,
U.S. Commerce Department
In United States ex rel. Silver v. Omnicare, Inc., et al. (D.N.J. No. 11-cv-01326), a whistleblower relator consistently alleged that certain pharmaceutical service providers have engaged in an illegal kickback arrangement...more
5/12/2021
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Healthcare ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Relators ,
Whistleblowers
On January 14, 2021, the Department of Justice released its updated statistics for False Claims Act (FCA) recoveries in FY 2020. The Civil Division reported that it recovered $2.2 billion in settlements and judgments in the...more
When Abraham Lincoln signed the False Claims Act (FCA) into law in 1863, it was a legislative reaction to a series of sensational congressional investigations into war profiteers’ sale of phony provisions and useless...more
The Prospect of False Claims Act’s Treble Damages Require Meticulous Record Keeping under the CARES Act-
On April 10, 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced its effort to root out fraud associated with...more
On April 8, 2020, a final rule (the Rule) was issued amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) and implementing Section 852 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2019 to provide...more
This week, the State of Hawai`i instituted some of the most sweeping emergency orders in the country in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For tourists, tourism, federal employees, federal contractors, and the millions of...more
One of the bedrock principles of federal contracting is the demand for “full and open competition through the use of competitive procedures.” In order to foster competition and reduce costs, the Competition in Contracting...more
On August 6, 2014, plaintiff-relator Andrew Scollick filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against eighteen defendants for multiple violations of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in...more
Section 8(a) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 authorizes the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to enter into prime contracts with federal agencies and to subcontract the performance of the contract to...more