My colleagues Hope Foster, Larry Freedman, and Bridget Rohde, members of Mintz Levin's Health Care Enforcement Defense group, recently published a report surveying health care enforcement trends and developments in 2015 and forecasting what these developments herald for 2016.
2015 was a year of transition for the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ"), with the installation of a new Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and several other high-level officials. Nevertheless, based on the number of cases pursued by the agency and its partners — and despite the other important law enforcement challenges that confronted the government — health care fraud remained a top enforcement priority. Moreover, there were important policy developments that will impact health care fraud enforcement in the coming year.
Mintz Levin's report covers several trends, policy developments, notable decisions, and significant pending cases, including the following:
- The Yates Memo: a policy change or business as usual for the DOJ?
- The added resource of compliance counsel in the DOJ Fraud Section for the evaluation of compliance programs
- Increased prosecutions of Medicare fraud and related offenses, including the largest Strike Force nationwide takedown in its history
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement involving health care companies
- The prioritization of particular programs and providers by DOJ's Civil Division
- Notable settlements and decisions from 2015, and significant appellate decisions upcoming in 2016 involving the scope of the False Claims Act
Mintz Levin will host a webinar on Wednesday, January 13, 2016 from 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET to discuss the report. The webinar is eligible for CLE credit in California and New York, and you can register here.
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