Wisconsin Does Away With State False Claims Act
On July 12, 2015, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed into law the budget passed by the state legislature the previous week. The budget included a short rider that repeals Wisconsin’s 2007 False Claims for Medical Assistance Act, Wis. Stat. s. 20.931—the state’s version of the federal False Claims Act (FCA).The repeal of the law — no more than a few words and a reference to a section in the state statute — was included in an omnibus motion on Medicaid by the Joint Finance Committee and drew little attention. The motion containing the repeal of the state law was made by Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette), the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee.
Prior to its repeal, the law allowed relators to claim up to 30 percent of awards, and provided whistleblower protections and triple damages similar to the FCA. Wisconsin has recovered millions of dollars from lawsuits initiated by whistle-blowers since the law was enacted in 2007.
The Wisconsin attorney general did not take a position on the law’s repeal, but a spokeswoman from his office stated that repeal of the law “will not have much impact—if any—given that there are numerous laws that allow the state to prosecute Medicaid fraud.” However, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the repeal will save Wisconsin the cost of investigating between 60 and 70 qui tam actions a year, of which it only intervened in a “small minority.”
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It is outrageously misleading to say the repeal of the state that there is no consequence There are no other avenues to recover State funds. Pursuing recoveries under the federal false claims act only recovers money to the federal treasury, it does not recover state funds.
