Healthcare Compliance Health, Medicine, Nursing Coursework

Healthcare Compliance
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Healthcare Compliance
President Abraham Lincoln passed the False Claims Act (FCA) into law during the American Civil War in 1863. In particular, the FCA was the first of America’s strongest whistleblower laws to be implemented. During the war, it was clear that numerous suppliers provided substandard commodities and services to soldiers. In that light, the government passed the FCA to eliminate fraud in state contracts or any form of corruption done by suppliers against the government. Based on the FCA, it is a crime for an organization or individual to make a false file or record knowingly regarding any healthcare program. The FCA was implemented to safeguard government resources from being defrauded.
Currently, the FCA or Lincoln Law is used to protect the government’s resources from being misused in various corruption acts. The federal law imposes liability on firms and people who defraud various government programs. In most cases, whistleblowers are the ones who initiate FCAs. Specifically, after several revisions, the FCA has become powerful despite its retained whistleblower provision or qui tam. Qui tam allows organizations and people to file lawsuits on behalf of the government if they know how fraud is taking place (National Whistleblower Center, 2021). These companies and individuals are rewarded if they reveal crucial information that enables the government to regain money lost through fraud.
One of the four primary sources of liability under the FCA is the direct submission of false claims. People or organizations that knowingly submit fake documents or make false claims to the government are liable for civil penalties or damages (Lewis, 2000). The FCA covers all types of fraud, except tax fraud. As such, individuals and businesses should not support false claims to demand money from the federal government or health p...