Government contractors should take note of the last week’s announced settlement between hospice care provider AseraCare and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of their long-running False Claims Act (FCA) case, U.S. ex rel. Paradies v. AseraCare Inc., No. 2:12-cv-00245 (N.D. Ala.). The settlement agreement involves a single $1M payment and requires no Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA). It stands in stark contrast to the $200M originally sought by DOJ. The settlement also keeps intact key rulings by the Eleventh Circuit in the case, which clarified that a mere difference of reasonable opinions will not constitute falsity under the FCA – clarity, which will continue to support defenses for those in both the health care and government contracts industries.
