Alaska § 09.58.010 - False claims for medical assistance; civil penalty.

§ 09.58.010. False claims for medical assistance; civil penalty.

 (a) A medical assistance provider or medical assistance recipient may not        (1) knowingly submit, authorize, or cause to be submitted to an officer or employee of the state a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval under the medical assistance program;

 (2) knowingly make, use, or cause to be made or used, directly or indirectly, a false record or statement to get a false or fraudulent claim for payment paid or approved by the state under the medical assistance program;

 (3) conspire to defraud the state by getting a false or fraudulent claim paid or approved under the medical assistance program;

 (4) knowingly make, use, or cause to be made or used, a false record or statement to conceal, avoid, increase, or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the medical assistance program;

 (5) knowingly enter into an agreement, contract, or understanding with an officer or employee of the state for approval or payment of a claim under the medical assistance program knowing that the information in the agreement, contract, or understanding is false or fraudulent.

 (b) A beneficiary of an intentional or inadvertent submission of a false or fraudulent claim under the medical assistance program who later discovers the claim is false or fraudulent shall disclose the false or fraudulent claim to the state not later than 60 days after discovering the false claim.

 (c) In addition to any criminal penalties under AS 47.05 , a medical assistance provider or medical assistance recipient who violates (a) or (b) of this section shall be liable to the state in a civil action for        (1) a civil penalty of not less than $5,500 and not more than $11,000;

 (2) three times the amount of actual damages sustained by the state;

 (3) full reasonable attorney fees and costs in a case involving a fraudulent claim, agreement, contract, or understanding; and

 (4) reasonable attorney fees and costs calculated under applicable court rules in a case that does not involve a fraudulent claim, agreement, contract, or understanding.

 (d) Liability for actual damages under (c) of this section may be reduced to not less than twice the amount of actual damages that the state sustains if the court finds that a person liable for an act under (a) or (b) of this section        (1) furnished the attorney general or the Department of Health with all information known to the person about the violation not later than 30 days after the date the information was obtained;

 (2) fully cooperated with the investigation of the violation under AS 09.58.020 ;

 (3) at the time the person furnished the attorney general with the information about the violation, no criminal prosecution, civil action, investigation, or administrative action had been started in this state with respect to the violation, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an investigation of the violation.

 (e) A corporation, partnership, or other individual is liable under this section for acts of its agents if the agent acted with apparent authority, regardless of whether the agent acted, in whole or in part, to benefit the principal and regardless of whether the principal adopted or ratified the agent's claims, representations, statement, or other action or conduct.