January 2007 Deadline Looms For Health Care Employers

Any entity receiving (or making) annual payments under Medicaid of at least $5 million has until January 1, 2007 to comply with employment provisions contained in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. These provisions require covered entities to educate their workforce about the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act prohibits the submission of false claims to the government for payment and provides protection against retaliation to employees who report suspected violations.

Specifically, the Deficit Reduction Act requires covered entities to: (1) establish written policies for all employees, contractors and agents that provide detailed information about the federal False Claims Act and related administrative and state laws and whistleblower protections under such laws; (2) include in such written policies detailed provisions regarding the entity's policies and procedures for detecting and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse; and (3) include in any employee handbook a specific discussion of the False Claims Act and related laws and the rights of employees to be protected as whistleblowers and the entity's policies and procedures for detecting and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse.

Failure to implement these policies could disqualify a covered from eligibility for Medicaid payments.