False Claims Act of 1863

The False Claims Act of 1863 (FCA) is an American federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies (typically federal contractors) who defraud governmental programs. It is the federal government's primary litigation tool in combating fraud against the government. The law includes a qui tam provision that allows people who are not affiliated with the government, called "relators" under the law, to file actions on behalf of the government. This is informally called "whistleblowing", especially when the relator is employed by the organization accused in the suit. Persons filing actions under the Act stand to receive a portion (15–30%, depending on certain factors) of any recovered damages.

False Claims Act of 1863
United States Supreme Court cases
  • United States v. Cohn, 270 U.S. 339 (1926)
  • United States v. Gilliland, 312 U.S. 86 (1941)
  • United States ex rel. Marcus v. Hess, 317 U.S. 537 (1943)
  • United States v. Grainger, 346 U.S. 235 (1953)
  • Rainwater v. United States, 356 U.S. 590 (1958)
  • United States v. McNinch, 356 U.S. 595 (1958)
  • United States v. Neifert-White Co., 390 U.S. 228 (1968)
  • United States v. Bornstein, 423 U.S. 303 (1976)
  • United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435 (1989)
  • Hughes Aircraft Co. v. United States ex rel. Schumer, 520 U.S. 939 (1997)
  • Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765 (2000)
  • Cook County v. United States ex rel. Chandler, 538 U.S. 119 (2003)
  • Graham County Soil and Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 545 U.S. 409 (2005)
  • Rockwell International Corp. v. United States, 549 U.S. 457 (2007)
  • Allison Engine Co. v. United States ex rel. Sanders, 553 U.S. 662 (2008)
  • United States ex rel. Eisenstein v. City of New York, 556 U.S. 928 (2009)
  • Graham County Soil and Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 559 U.S. 280 (2010)
  • Schindler Elevator Corp. v. United States ex rel. Kirk, 563 U.S. 401 (2011)
  • Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter, No. 12-1497, 575 U.S. ___ (2015)
  • Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, No. 15-7, 579 U.S. ___ (2016)
  • State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby, No. 15-513, 580 U.S. ___ (2016)
  • Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt, No. 18-315, 587 U.S. ___ (2019)
  • United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., No. 21-1326, 598 U.S. ___ (2023)
  • United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc., No. 21-1052, 599 U.S. ___ (2023)

As of 2019, over 71% of all FCA actions were initiated by whistleblowers. Claims under the law have typically involved government health care programs (Medicare, Medicaid and TriCare), military, or other government spending programs. FCA actions dominate the list of largest pharmaceutical settlements. Between 1987 and 2019, the government recovered more than $62 billion under the False Claims Act.

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