On April 13, 2010, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed the Maryland False Health Claims Act into law. As discussed in greater detail in a previous post on this website, the False Health Claims Act will provide a powerful tool to combat fraud upon Maryland’s Medicaid systems. According to the State’s health department, approximately $300 million in Medicaid funds are lost each year due to fraud. The False Health Claims Act establishes a law-enforcement framework akin to the Federal False Claims Act, whereby whistleblowers may file a qui tam lawsuit on behalf of the State in order to alert the state to, and prosecute, fraud upon Maryland’s Medicaid system. Under the new law, whistleblowers may receive between 15% and 30% of funds recovered on behalf of the State as a reward for disclosing the fraud. Maryland now joins the list of twenty seven other states that have enacted false claims statutes.
