The Persistence of Fraud and the False Claims Act
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Date
2008-09-17T19:54:45Z
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Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
An abstract of the thesis of Renita K. Speight for the Master of Arts in Government presented August 27, 2008.
Title: The Persistence of Fraud and the False Claims Act.
The focus of this thesis will be to evaluate the False Claims Act (FCA) and in particular its Qui Tam provisions. A closer look will be taken at the emergence of a very lucrative type of fraud in the United States. This type of fraud has only been on the scene for less than twenty years. However, it has drawn incredible attention from both the criminal and anti-criminal factions. This fraud is Health Care Fraud and although the FCA was not originally intended in the use of fighting fraud in this area, it has been the weapon of choice. However, there are still some loopholes and problems that are interfering with the effectiveness of the FCA as a fraud fighting tool. Because of the rapid growth in health care fraud, it is considerably important that all Americans are informed about this wide spread fraud.
As indicated in this thesis, the United States government has recovered large amounts of money due to whistleblowers, however they are still losing out on lots of money because of the revolving door of fraudulent activities. The FCA has been effective in fighting health care fraud in some aspects, but as Senator Grassley believes, the FCA has a long way to go before it can efficiently and effectively fight fraud.