# False Claims Act **Stub — fill out.** The federal government's principal civil tool against fraud on the public fisc. Enacted in 1863 during the Civil War to punish contractors selling the Union Army defective supplies — hence its nickname, the Lincoln Law — and substantially strengthened in 1986. ## Core mechanics - **Liability.** Knowingly presenting a false or fraudulent claim for payment to the federal government, or knowingly using a false record to get a claim paid. - **Damages.** Treble damages plus per-claim civil penalties, which is what makes it financially formidable against high-volume billers. - **Qui tam.** Private parties ("relators") may sue on the government's behalf and keep a share of any recovery. DOJ may intervene or decline; declined cases can still proceed. - **Scienter.** "Knowing" reaches actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance, and reckless disregard — not just intent to defraud. ## Why it's in this KB The FCA is the statute that turns a policy dispute into a liability question. Because it attaches to the *billing* rather than to the underlying conduct, an administration can pursue substantive policy goals by attacking coding and documentation, without having to win the argument about whether the underlying service should exist. Healthcare is the dominant venue — Medicare and Medicaid claims — which is why it recurs in this vault's health-policy and enforcement threads. Watch it in connection with: - The [[Task Force to Eliminate Fraud]] and its expansion beyond safety-net programs - The August 2026 HHS *Wolves in White Coats* report and the criminal referrals [[JD Vance]] announced off it (see [[JD Vance News Log]]) - Defense-procurement enforcement against the contractors tracked in this vault ## To fill in - The 1986 amendments and the 2009–2010 FERA/ACA changes - The *Escobar* materiality standard and how it narrowed implied-certification theories - Annual DOJ recovery figures and the healthcare share - Whether this administration's declination and intervention rates diverge from precedent ## Related - [[Task Force to Eliminate Fraud]] - [[Department of Justice]] - [[Medicaid]]