Bill No.:                     SF0083                                   Drafter:  JWL

LSO No.:                   13LSO-0349                         Effective Date:  7/1/2013

Enrolled Act No.:    SEA0084

Chapter No.:            CH0118

Prime Sponsor:       Senator Peterson

Catch Title:              Medicaid fraud recovery.

Subject:                     Creates the Wyoming Medicaid False Claims Act with civil and criminal penalties.

Summary/Major Elements:  This act:

· Creates the Wyoming Medicaid False Claims Act in Title 42;

· Defines relevant terms, including “claim” and “material statement”;

· For persons other than Medicaid recipients, provides for a civil penalty of $1,000-$10,000, treble damages and costs for knowingly presenting false or fraudulent claims, knowing use of false records, knowingly benefiting from an inadvertent false claim without repaying the benefit or conspiring to commit any of these violation;

· Reduces treble damages to double damages for persons who cooperate with investigative authorities;

· For recipients, provides for reimbursement plus a civil penalty of $1,000, or treble reimbursement for subsequent violations;

· Authorizes the attorney general or district attorneys to investigate possible false claims and authorizes commencement of civil recovery actions;

· Authorizes recovery of actual damages by whistleblowers;

· Establishes a criminal offense for knowingly failing to maintain required records, including misdemeanor and felony level penalties depending upon the intent and the amount involved.