On June 18, 2012, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments and recommendations on how best to revise its self-disclosure protocol to make it more useful in today’s health care regulatory environment. This should come as welcome news to the healthcare provider community because OIG’s protocol was first established in 1998, when the healthcare fraud enforcement landscape was much different. Specifically, the government’s investigation and pursuit of health care fraud has substantially increased over the last 14 years. 1998’s total recoveries from health care fraud of under $500 million compared to last year’s total recoveries of $4.1 billion are good evidence of that change.

The Federal Register notice mentions that since 1998, OIG has resolved over 800 disclosures and recovered over $280 million to the Federal health care programs. These high numbers are likely due in large part to the benefits health care providers and practitioners derive from self-disclosing, namely a lower multiplier on damages (approximately 1.5) and no requirement for a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) in exchange for OIG’s highly sought after exclusion release. For cases settled after an affirmative investigation by the government – rather than a voluntary disclosure – healthcare providers should expect OIG, usually in conjunction with the Department of Justice (DOJ), to demand at least a 2.0 multiplier on the single damages (overpayment) amount. As an example, if the government determines that you received $500,000 in reimbursement that you were not entitled to, OIG would likely settle the self-disclosed matter for a 1.5 multiplier, or $750,000.  However, if the settlement is pursuant to an affirmative investigation and not a voluntary disclosure, OIG and DOJ would likely demand at least “double damages,” or $1 million.