By Greg Freeman
The Supreme Court’s landmark Loper Bright decision was expected to shake up False Claims Act (FCA) cases, and that is exactly what is happening, says Lawrence M. Kraus, JD, partner with the Foley & Lardner law firm in Boston.
The decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overturned Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., which required judicial deference to administrative agency interpretations of statutes in certain instances. (For more on the Loper Bright decision, see the September 2024 issue of Healthcare Risk Management.)
Briefs filed in U.S. ex rel. Kyer v. Thomas Health System, Inc. recently provided some indication of how Loper Bright might affect FCA cases, Kraus says. In the Kyer case, the relator alleges the defendant health system submitted false claims by violating regulations under the Stark Law, which prohibits Medicare payment for referrals related to certain financial transactions involving physicians, Kraus explains. The defendant moved to dismiss, but the court said it must first consider Loper Bright.
“Providers have to recognize that there are new defenses that could be asserted in False Claims Act cases. But I think that, more broadly, when new regulations are being promulgated, especially in the healthcare area, providers are going to want to look at those regulations and determine whether they’re permissible exercises of regulation of agency power or whether, in fact, the agencies are arguably interpreting the statue,” Kraus says. “Interpreting is what Loper Bright says can’t happen. So there needs to be assessment as new regulations come out to see whether there’s an additional area of disagreement, litigation, attack on the regulations.”
Source
- Lawrence M. Kraus, JD, Partner, Foley & Lardner, Boston, MA. Telephone: (617) 342-4070. Email: [email protected].
Greg Freeman has worked with Relias Media and its predecessor companies since 1989, moving from assistant staff writer to executive editor before becoming a freelance writer. He has been the editor of Healthcare Risk Management since 1992 and provides research and content for other Relias Media products. In addition to his work with Relias Media, Greg provides other freelance writing services and is the author of seven narrative nonfiction books on wartime experiences and other historical events.
The Supreme Court’s landmark Loper Bright decision was expected to shake up False Claims Act (FCA) cases, and that is exactly what is happening.
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