AMA files brief in Supreme Court case over fraud

Modern Healthcare reports that “more than a dozen major healthcare organizations,” including the American Medical Association, have filed briefs in Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel Escobar, “a Supreme Court case (2/2), over the validity of a legal theory now used to bring many fraud lawsuits against them.” Depending on how the court rules, “the case has the potential to reduce – or increase – the number of False Claims Act suits brought against healthcare providers and other companies.” In its brief, the AMA sides with Universal Health Services, contending that “imperfect compliance is not the same as fraud.” The brief states, “The healthcare regulatory environment is especially complex, making it particularly inappropriate to use the hammer of (False Claims Act) liability to punish noncompliance.”