Connecticut Expands State False Claims Act

On June 26, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law a bill expanding the state’s False Claims Act. The bill, “An Act Concerning Liability for False and Fraudulent Claims,” expands the law to cover non-healthcare related fraud.

Prior to the signing of the bill, Connecticut was one of several states whose False Claims Act only applied to false or fraudulent claims for payment or approval under state-administered health or human services programs. The newly signed law removes the language which specifies these programs and thus expands the law to cover any false claim filed under state programs.

 Like the federal False Claims Act on which it is modeled, the Connecticut False Claims Act contains qui tam provisions to incentivize whistleblowers to report contracting fraud. Qui tam whistleblowers are able to file lawsuits against fraudsters on behalf of the government. If a qui tam lawsuit leads to sanctions against the fraudster, the whistleblower is entitled to a reward between 15 and 30 percent collected by the government.

The following states have their own False Claims Act: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.