U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources
U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources is about whether the government can dismiss a False Claims Act case when it had declined to get involved previously. The False Claims Act holds people and businesses liable for defrauding the government or government programs. It allows people to bring lawsuits themselves with the government having the option of being allowed to get involved. In this case, Dr. Jesse Polansky, who worked at a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, said that they were marking outpatient visits as inpatient and defrauding the government of money. After being informed, the government declined to take over the case. Then in 2019, the government filed a motion to dismiss the case. The question is whether the government has the authority to do this. Polansky argues that the government gave up its right to dismiss the case when it declined to get involved initially. The U.S. argues that it shouldn’t have to intervene to dismiss a FCA suit and that its ability to do so is only restrained by the Constitution. Executive Health Resources argues that limiting the government’s power to dismiss would cause separation-of-powers issues.
If Polansky wins, the suit will stay alive and it will be slightly more difficult to dismiss a FCA lawsuit.
If the U.S./Executive Health Resources win, the fraud case gets thrown out.