Federal agencies are now promulgating regulations nearly doubling the per claim civil penalty for False Claims Act violations. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 requires federal agencies to implement a “catch up adjustment” based on inflation to increase civil FCA penalties from the current range of $5,500-$11,000 per claim. The Railroad Retirement Board just published an interim final rule setting a new range of $10,781-$21,563 per claim. The Department of Health and Human Services will issue adjusted penalties by July 1. If those penalties double, the lure of larger payouts will further incentivize whistleblowers to report FCA violations to the government.
