Supreme Court Ponders Major Expansion Of False Claims Act

A trade group for federal contractors calls it one of the most significant contract cases in a generation. The Coalition for Government Procurement, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, were among 25 parties that filed amicus briefs in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. Escobar, which was argued before the Supreme Court on April 19. If Escobar prevails, according to an attorney quoted in this post from Federal News Radio, it could mean that each bill a contractor submits could be potentially subject to the False Claims Act. Groups on the side of whistleblowers have also filed amicus briefs, and they see it very differently. One of them maintains that the First Circuit opinion that gave rise to this appeal “closely reflects the true intentions of the FCA’s drafters, and offers the best analytical framework consistent with the true purposes of the law: the punishment of fraud against the government and restitution for said fraud.”