Maryland False Claims Act and Whistleblower Law

Maryland False Claims Act

In 2015, Maryland adopted a state version of the False Claims Act at the insistence of the Maryland Attorney General. The Maryland False Claims Act now provides for whistleblower initiated qui tam lawsuits concerning false claims for payment or approval, and false statements, similar to the Federal False Claims Act. It provides for rewards to whistleblowers of between 15 and 25 percent of the recovery when the government intervenes and proceeds with the action.

Prior to 2015, the state had a targeted program against health care fraud. The Maryland FCA now protects the state’s spending in other areas, including government contracts and construction projects.

A Md. whistleblower with evidence of health care fraud in Medicare or Medicaid may also file a Federal False Claims Act lawsuit and seek recovery of the federal portion of government spending. The federal law permits rewards of between 15 and 30 percent of the recovery.

Other Maryland Whistleblower Laws

Maryland’s Health Care Worker Whistleblower Protection Act protects licensed or certified (by a Board) health care employees who object to violations of a law, internally report practices and activities that violate the law, and provide information to a public body. To gain the right to sue, the activity must pose a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, the employee must internally report, and the employee must have a reasonable, good faith belief that the employer is in violation of the law.

Maryland offers protection against retaliation to whistleblowers in the executive branch of the state government as well as to employees of state contractors.

Maryland employees are also protected by a variety of federal whistleblower laws and programs which entitle them to compensation for retaliation and rewards for information that results in the successful recovery of monetary sanctions.

Special Disclaimers

Whistleblower laws are complex and contain many terms and conditions. These summaries are intended to be brief introductions to the law and not a detailed coverage of the intricacies of the law. For additional information about one of these laws, please contact our whistleblower lawyers at 1-800-590-4116.

Note: McEldrew Young Purtell Merritt attorneys represent whistleblowers under federal whistleblower reward programs established at the Justice Department, SEC, CFTC, IRS, NHTSA and other federal agencies. We selectively handle client cases involving state law retaliation issues where there is a corresponding claim for a federal or state reward. In certain states, we may do so through association with an employment lawyer licensed in the state where these acts happened because our lawyers are not barred in every state. We generally do not represent public sector (state employee) whistleblowers.