The DOJ Reward Program
Congress passed a law known as the False Claims Act (FCA) that required the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C. to create a Whistleblower Reward Program. Under the DOJ reward program, DOJ pays whistleblowers that properly report Medicare fraud between 15 and 30 percent of what it recovers—based on the whistleblower’s information—no matter how large the recovery is. The average reward is $690,000, and the largest reward in a single case has topped $150 million. The government wins too, because it gets to pocket the 70 to 85 percent of the rest of the funds collected back. Today, over three-fourths of the government’s Medicare fraud cases are DOJ whistleblower reward cases. Thus, DOJ is counting on you to bring Medicare fraud cases to DOJ and receive a reward in the process.
Many whistleblowers don’t want rewards, but simply to put an end to Medicare fraud. That is a great attitude. However, there actually are some very good reasons to apply for a Department of Justice (DOJ) whistleblower reward.
First, the only way to ensure that the government opens an investigation, and assigns a DOJ attorney in the process, is to apply for a reward under the DOJ reward program. By law, DOJ must investigate every single complaint filed under its reward program. That means that a DOJ attorney is assigned to evaluate all DOJ reward applications to determine if they have merit.
Second, to file under the DOJ reward program, you must use an attorney (typically on a contingency basis) to investigate the allegations and submit to DOJ a complaint and statement of material evidence. The better prepared these documents the better the chances of a fuller DOJ investigation because DOJ relies on these documents to determine the scope of its investigation and how many resources to assign.
Third, by law, DOJ must inform your attorney of the results of the FCA investigation of the Medicare fraud allegations.
These are three very good reasons to file for a reward under the DOJ program.
If you are ready to report Medicare fraud under the DOJ reward program, click on this link File for a reward now.