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Statement of Danielle Brian in support of the False Claims Act
April 27, 1998
This is the Project On Government Oversight's third report on the violators of the False Claims Act.
The first time, in 1994, 22 defense contractors were lobbying the Senate to weaken the law. We found that 90% of the defense contractors supporting the lobbying effort had themselves been involved in fraud, waste and abuse against the taxpayer. For a while, the lobbyists went away.
Then last year, the health care industry joined defense contractors in petitioning the Supreme Court to weaken the law. Our second report revealed that the health care industry had joined the defense contractors because they had quickly become the biggest violators of the False Claims Act.
Now the lobbyists have returned to the Hill to kill the law. Our third report, which we are releasing today, "Addicted to Fraud", shows that since 1994, the health care industry has paid the taxpayers back nearly $2 billion through the False Claims Act. Despite the health care industry's claims that the Department of Justice uses the law to target small hospitals for small infractions, we found that two-thirds of the settlements made public were for over a million dollars -- an amount that reflects the size of the fraud against the taxpayers. We also found that the majority of the cases did not involve false- or overbilling, but instead involved kickbacks, poor quality care, care not provided, or unnecessary services performed.
Of course the health care industry and hospitals in particular hate this law, because it's catching them defrauding the taxpayers and cheating their patients. These industries have drafted legislation decimating the FCA because it has successfully forced them to pay for their illegal activities.
We must maintain the integrity of the FCA--first, to protect billions and billions of dollars in taxpayer money and second, to protect the quality of our health care.
Please contact the Project On Government Oversight for a copy of our report.
Founded in 1981, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that champions good government reforms. POGO's investigations into corruption, misconduct, and conflicts of interest achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government.
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