Source: https://www.pjofca.com/qui-tam-false-claims-act/federal-and-state-false-claims-acts/georgie-false-claims-act/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 15:15:35+00:00

Document:
(1) “Claim” includes any request or demand, whether under a contract or otherwise, for money, property, or services, which is made to the Georgia Medicaid program, or to any officer, employee, fiscal intermediary, grantee or contractor of the Georgia Medicaid program, or to other persons or entities if it results in payments by the Georgia Medicaid program, if the Georgia Medicaid program provides or will provide any portion of the money or property requested or demanded, or if the Georgia Medicaid program will reimburse the contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the money or property requested or demanded. A claim includes a request or demand made orally, in writing, electronically, or magnetically. Each claim may be treated as a separate claim.
(C) Acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information. No proof of specific intent to defraud is required.
(3) “Person” means any natural person, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint-stock company, or any other entity with capacity to sue or be sued.
HISTORY: Code 1981, § 49- 4-168, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 355, § 3/HB 551.
(7) Knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false record or statement to conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligation to pay, repay, or transmit money or property to the State of Georgia shall be liable to the State of Georgia for a civil penalty of not less than $5,500.00 and not more than $11,000.00 for each false or fraudulent claim, plus three times the amount of damages which the Georgia Medicaid program sustains because of the act of such person.
(3) At the time such person furnished the Georgia Medicaid program with the information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had commenced under this article with respect to such violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation into such violation, the court may assess not more than two times the amount of the actual damages which the Georgia Medicaid program sustained because of the act of such person.
(c) A person violating any provision of subsection (a) of this Code section shall also be liable to this state for all costs of any civil action brought to recover the damages and penalties provided under this article.
HISTORY: Code 1981, § 49-4-168.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 355, § 3/HB 551; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 49/SB 46.
(a) The Attorney General shall be authorized to investigate suspected, alleged, and reported violations of this article. If the Attorney General finds that a person has violated or is violating this article, then the Attorney General may bring a civil action against such person under this article.
(b) Subject to the exclusions set forth in this Code section, a civil action under this article may also be brought by a private person. A civil action shall be brought in the name of the State of Georgia. The civil action may be dismissed only if the court and the Attorney General give written consent to the dismissal and state the reasons for consenting to such dismissal.
(6) When a person brings a civil action under this subsection, no person other than the Attorney General may intervene or bring a related civil action based on the facts underlying the pending civil action.
(d) (1) If the Attorney General elects to intervene and proceed with the civil action, he or she shall have the primary responsibility for prosecuting the civil action and shall not be bound by an act of the person bringing such civil action. Such person shall have the right to continue as a party to the civil action, subject to the limitations set forth in this subsection.
(2) The Attorney General may dismiss the civil action, notwithstanding the objections of the person initiating the civil action, if the person has been notified by the Attorney General of the filing of the motion and the court has provided the person with an opportunity for a hearing on the motion.
(3) The Attorney General may settle the civil action with the defendant notwithstanding the objections of the person initiating the civil action if the court determines, after a hearing, that the proposed settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable under all the circumstances. Upon a showing of good cause, such hearing may be held in camera.
(A) Limiting the number of witnesses the person may call; (B) Limiting the length of the testimony of such witnesses; (C) Limiting the person’s cross-examination of witnesses; or (D) Otherwise limiting the participation by the person in the litigation.
(e) Upon a showing by the defendant that unrestricted participation during the course of the litigation by the person initiating the civil action would be for purposes of harassment or would cause the defendant undue burden or unnecessary expense, the court may limit the participation by the person in the litigation.
(f) If the Attorney General elects not to proceed with the civil action, the person who initiated the civil action shall have the right to conduct the civil action. If the Attorney General so requests, he or she shall be served with copies of all pleadings filed in the civil action and shall be supplied with copies of all deposition transcripts. When a person proceeds with the civil action, the court may nevertheless permit the Attorney General to intervene at a later date for any purpose, including, but not limited to, dismissal of the civil action notwithstanding the objections of the person initiating the civil action if such person has been notified by the Attorney General of the filing of such motion and the court has provided such person with an opportunity for a hearing on such motion.
(g) Whether or not the Attorney General proceeds with the civil action, upon a showing by the Attorney General that certain actions of discovery by the person initiating the civil action would interfere with the Attorney General’s investigation or prosecution of a criminal or civil matter arising out of the same facts, the court may stay such discovery for a period of not more than 60 days. Such a showing shall be conducted in camera. The court may extend the 60 day period upon a further showing in camera that the Attorney General has pursued the criminal or civil investigation or proceedings with reasonable diligence and any proposed discovery in the civil action will interfere with the ongoing criminal or civil investigation or proceedings.
finally determined on appeal to the appropriate court of the State of Georgia, if all time for filing such an appeal with respect to the finding or conclusion has expired, or if the finding or conclusion is not subject to judicial review.
(i) (1) If the Attorney General proceeds with a civil action brought by a private person under subsection (b) of this Code section, such person shall, subject to the second sentence of this paragraph, receive at least 15 percent but not more than 25 percent of the proceeds of the civil action or settlement of the claim, depending upon the extent to which the person substantially contributed to the prosecution of the civil action. Where the civil action is one which the court finds to be based primarily on disclosures of specific information, other than information provided by the person bringing the civil action, relating to allegations or transactions in a criminal, civil, or administrative hearing, in a legislative, administrative, or Attorney General hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, the court may award such sums as it considers appropriate, but in no case more than 10 percent of the proceeds, taking into account the significance of the information and the role of the person bringing such civil action in advancing the case to litigation. Any payment to a person under the first or second sentence of this paragraph shall be made from the proceeds. The remaining proceeds shall be payable to the Indigent Care Trust Fund to be used for the purposes set forth in Code Section 31-8-154. Any such person shall also receive an amount for reasonable expenses which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. All such expenses, fees, and costs shall be awarded against the defendant.
(2) If the Attorney General does not proceed with a civil action under this Code section, the person bringing the civil action or settling the claim shall receive an amount which the court decides is reasonable for collecting the civil penalty and damages. Such amount shall be not less than 25 percent and not more than 30 percent of the proceeds of the civil action or settlement and shall be paid out of such proceeds. The remaining proceeds shall be payable to the Indigent Care Trust Fund to be used for the purposes set forth in Code Section 31-8-154. Such person shall also receive an amount for reasonable expenses which the court finds to have been necessarily incurred, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. All such expenses, fees, and costs shall be awarded against the defendant.
(3) Whether or not the Attorney General proceeds with the civil action, if the court finds that the civil action was brought by a person who planned and initiated the violation of Code Section 49-4-168.1 upon which the civil action was brought, then the court may, to the extent the court considers appropriate, reduce the share of the proceeds of the civil action which the person would otherwise receive under paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection, taking into account the role of that person in advancing the case to litigation and any relevant circumstances pertaining to the violation. If the person bringing the civil action is convicted of criminal conduct arising from his or her role in the violation of Code Section 49-4-168.1, such person shall be dismissed from the civil action and shall not receive any share of the proceeds of the civil action. Such dismissal shall not prejudice the right of the State of Georgia to continue the civil action, represented by the Attorney General.
( 4) If the Attorney General does not proceed with the civil action and the person bringing the civil action conducts the civil action, the court may award to the defendant its reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses against the person bringing the civil action if the defendant prevails in the civil action and the court finds that the claim of the person bringing the civil action was clearly frivolous, clearly vexatious, or brought primarily for purposes of harassment.
(5) The State of Georgia shall not be liable for expenses which a private person incurs in bringing a civil action under this article.
(j) For purposes of this subsection, “public employee,” “public official,” and “public employment” shall include federal, state, and local employees and officials.
(B) Information or records to which such person had access as a result of his or her public employment or office.
(2) No court shall have jurisdiction over a civil action under this article based upon the public disclosure of allegations or transactions in a criminal, civil, or administrative hearing, in a legislative, administrative, or Attorney General report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, unless the civil action is brought by the Attorney General or unless the person bringing the civil action is an original source of the information. For purposes of this paragraph, “original source” means an individual who has direct and independent knowledge of the information on which the allegations are based and has voluntarily provided the information to this state before filing a civil action under this Code section based on such information.
(3) In no event may a person bring a civil action under this article which is based upon allegations or transactions which are the subject of a civil or administrative proceeding to which the State of Georgia is already party.
(4) No civil action may be brought under this article with respect to any claim relating to the assessment, payment, nonpayment, refund or collection of taxes pursuant to any provisions of Title 48.
HISTORY: Code 1981, § 49-4-168.2, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 355, § 3/HB 551; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 49/SB 46.
(a) In any civil action brought under this article, the State of Georgia or person bringing the civil action shall be required to prove all essential elements of the cause of civil action, including damages, by a preponderance of the evidence.
HISTORY: Code 1981, § 49-4-168.3, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 355, § 3/HB 551.
Any employee who is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment by his or her employer because of lawful acts done by the employee, on behalf of the employee or others, in furtherance of a civil action under this article, including investigation for, initiation of, testimony for, or assistance in a civil action filed or to be filed under this article, shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make the employee whole. Such relief shall include reinstatement with the same seniority status such employee would have had but for the discrimination, two times the amount of back pay, interest on the back pay award, and compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. An employee may bring a civil action in an appropriate court of the State of Georgia for the relief provided in this Code section.
All civil actions under this article shall be filed pursuant to Code Section 49-4-168.2 within six years after the date the violation was committed, or three years after the date when facts material to the right of civil action are known or reasonably should have been known by the state official charged with the responsibility to act in the circumstances, whichever occurs last; provided, however, that in no event shall any civil action be filed more than ten years after the date upon which the violation was committed.
HISTORY: Code 1981, § 49-4-168.5, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p.
All civil actions brought against natural persons under this article shall be brought in the county where the defendant or, in the case of multiple defendants or of defendants who are not residents of the State of Georgia, in any county where any one defendant resides, can be found, transacts business, or commits an act in furtherance of the submittal of a false or fraudulent claim to the Georgia Medicaid program.
HISTORY: Code 1981, § 49-4-168.6, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 355, § 3/HB 551; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 49/SB 46.

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