WASHINGTON--On Sept. 12, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced legislation that would amend the False Claims Act to make it easier for whistleblowers to bring lawsuits.

Called the False Claims Correction Act of 2007, Grassley said the legislation is in response to recent court decisions that threaten to limit Congress' 1986 update of the False Claims Act, which has recovered $20 billion for the government.

The 1986 amendments empowered "qui tam relators," or whistleblowers, to bring false claims complaints.

"It's been proven time and again that without the courage and willingness of these individual citizen whistleblowers, the federal government would not have known what was going on or been able to pursue successful cases against those who defrauded the government, including contractors and state and local governments. These settlements have returned tens of billions of dollars that would otherwise be lost and gone forever," Grassley said in a statement.

"Our new legislation works to make sure recent court decisions won't weaken the government's ability to recover tax dollars lost to fraud, whether it's in health care, defense or another [area] of spending."

One provision of the bill would remove a requirement that false claims be presented directly to a government employee. This problem arose following the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in U.S. ex rel. Totten v. Bombardier Corp., which barred government recovery of funds because the false claims were submitted to employees of a government grantee (Amtrak) and not a direct government employee.

"This correction ensures that any government money lost to fraud, waste or abuse can be recovered using the FCA regardless of whether the individual making the false claim directly represents such a claim to a government employee," Grassley said.

Another measure in the bill would strengthen the FCA after a Supreme Court decision in Rockwell International Corp. et al. v. United States held that the whistleblower in the case could not share in any recoveries unless that person was the original source of all claims ultimately settled.

"The feds recoup millions of dollars every year from whistleblower activity. In recent years, the [Office of Inspector General] and [the Department of Justice] have taken a hard line with their interpretation of the False Claims Act, which governs rewards to whistleblowers. Grassley's bill is an effort to broaden the scope of the whistleblower law by removing some of the justification the feds have used to deny whistleblower payments," commented health care attorney Neil Caesar of the Health Law Center, Greenville, S.C.

"This legislation would result in more whistleblower activities. It is important for home care companies to remember that the people who work for them and with them can be their best allies or their worst enemies," Caesar continued.

According to Caesar, "most of the time" whistleblowers only go to the government after they have tried to get any problems addressed within the company. "The best way to minimize this danger is to have effective lines of communication, to encourage personnel to point out problems and to investigate and act on problems effectively," Caesar said.

The bill, S. 2041, is cosponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. Companion legislation will be introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif. Grassley and Berman were the sponsors of the 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act.

"President Lincoln signed the False Claims Act into law in 1863 to prevent war profiteers and others from defrauding the government and the nation's taxpayers. Sadly, 144 years later, 'Lincoln's Law' is still needed," Durbin said. "This bipartisan bill modernizes and strengthens the False Claims Act, and will help "Lincoln's Law" continue to serve as an effective tool against fraud."

To read the full text of the bill, visit the Congressional Web portal at thomas.loc.gov.

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