The Congressional Research Service (“CRS”), which is part of the Library of Congress, has issued a report titled “The False Claims Act, the Allison Engine Decision, and Possible Effect on Health Care Fraud Enforcements.” The report points out that the Supreme Court’s decision in Allison Engine Co., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Sanders has created the risk that certain False Claims Act cases alleging fraud on the Medicare or Medicaid systems could be dismissed because, in some circumstances, health care providers make their claims for payment to either private entities or state-run entities, and not directly to the federal government. The report also points out that this might not happen; it all depends on what Allison Engine really means. (For our view on that, see our July 18, 2008 post.) But the real purpose of the CRS report is to add some fuel to the fire now burning fairly hot in Congress for passage of the False Claims Correction Act, which would effectively overrule the dangerous parts of the Allison Engine decision. (Believe it or not, the CRS does not make its reports publicly available on a website. But if you’d like a copy of the CRS report, get in touch with us, and we’ll send it to you.)
