Washington State Becomes 28th With Medicaid False Claims Act

In late March, Washington joined 27 other states with false claims acts that are patterned after the federal False Claims Act. States that have such acts are entitled to an additional 10 percent of any Medicaid funds that are recovered. This incentive was established by the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, and in order to take advantage of this benefit, states must first obtain approval from the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the U.S. Attorney General. In fiscal 2011, state Medicaid Fraud Control Units recovered $1.75 billion from civil and criminal proceedings. State false claims acts have become a significant tool of this fraud fighting effort.