Skilled nursing providers should not expect the attorney general nominee to brush off False Claims Act cases, according to testimony Tuesday.
William Barr said before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he plans to “diligently enforce” the False Claims Act and any attempts to defraud the government. Barr’s resolve to defend whistleblowers had come into question because of a 1989 memo he authored, calling parts of the act “patently unconstitutional,” Bloomberg Law reported Tuesday.
“I will diligently enforce the False Claims Act,” Barr said in response to questioning from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA).
While working in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel in the 1980s, Barr had previously raised doubt about “qui tam” provisions in the False Claims Act. Bloomberg noted that those provisions allow whistleblowers to bring civil cases for alleged fraud of federal services, such as Medicaid. The DOJ has leeway to intervene in a case, decline to take part, or have the case dismissed if it’s considered duplicative or a waste of government resources.
Barr said he’d enforce the act “in good faith” and agreed to sit down with the senior senator, known as a nursing home watchdog, to discuss it further.
