Facts & Figures

9oThe Impact of the False Claims Act

Settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.68 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023. The government and whistleblowers were party to 543 settlements and judgments, the highest number of settlements and judgments in a single year. Recoveries since 1986, when Congress substantially strengthened the civil False Claims Act, now total more than $75 billion.

“Protecting taxpayer dollars from fraud and abuse is of paramount importance to the Department of Justice – and these enforcement figures prove it,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “The False Claims Act remains one of our most important tools for rooting out fraud, ensuring that public funds are spent properly, and safeguarding critical government programs.”

Of the more than $2.68 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments reported by the Department of Justice this past fiscal year, over $1.8 billion related to matters that involved the health care industry, including managed care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, long-term acute care facilities, and physicians. The amounts included in the $1.8 billion reflect recoveries arising only from federal losses, but in many of these cases, the department was instrumental in recovering additional amounts for state Medicaid programs.

In 1986, Congress strengthened the False Claims Act by increasing incentives for whistleblowers to file lawsuits alleging false claims on behalf of the government. Whistleblowers filed 712 qui tam suits in fiscal year 2023, and this past year the Justice Department reported settlements and judgments exceeding $2.3 billion in these and earlier-filed suits.

Each year the Department of Justice reports on the significant success of False Claims Act cases brought by individual citizens. In the years immediately after 1986 when the False Claims was amended, most qui tam cases involved fraud by defense contractors against the Pentagon. For instance, from 1998 through 1992, health care accounted for approximately 15% of all new qui tam cases. More recently, however, the number of health care fraud qui tam cases has been rising steadily. During 2023, almost half of all new qui tam cases involved allegations of fraud against government-funded health insurance programs, such as Medicare,  Medicaid and Tricare. Less than 10% alleged fraud in connection with Department of Defense programs.

The government’s most recent figures demonstrate the significant growth in numbers of cases and dollars recovered through qui tam actions since the False Claims Act was amended in 1986. The government reports that nearly 16,000 qui tam cases have been filed since 1986 with an average of 656 being filed during each of the last five years.

Of the over $75 billion that has been recovered through qui tam suits, only $5.2 billion — less than 7% of all qui tam recoveries — has occurred in cases that were declined by the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice has reported that it intervenes in less than a 25% of the qui tam cases that are filed.

Relator’s share awards when the Department of Justice decides to participate in the action have totaled $9 billion or approximately 17% of the proceeds recovered since 1986.

You can download the 2023 False Claims Act statistics published by the Department of Justice here.