Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. U.S. & Mass. ex rel. Escobar

• Citation: 136 S.Ct. 1989,195 L.Ed.2d 348
• Decision Date: 16 June 2016
• Docket Number: No. 15–7.,15–7.
• Parties: UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES, INC., Petitioner v. UNITED STATES and Massachusetts, ex rel. Julio Escobar and Carmen Correa.
• Court: United States Supreme Court

136 S.Ct. 1989

195 L.Ed.2d 348

UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES, INC., Petitioner

v.UNITED STATES and Massachusetts, ex rel. Julio Escobar and Carmen Correa.

No. 15–7.

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued April 19, 2016.

Decided June 16, 2016.

Roy T. Englert, Jr., Washington, DC, for Petitioner.

David C. Frederick, Washington, DC, for Respondents.

Malcolm L. Stewart for the United States as amicus curiae, by special leave of the Court, supporting the respondents.

Mark W. Pearlstein, Laura McLane, Evan D. Panich, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Boston, MA, M. Miller Baker, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Roy T. Englert, Jr., Gary A. Orseck, Mark T. Stancil, Michael L. Waldman, Donald Burke, Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber LLP, Washington, DC, for Petitioner.

Thomas M. Greene, Michael Tabb, Elizabeth Cho, Greene LLP, Boston, MA, David C. Frederick, Derek T. Ho, Katherine C. Cooper, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC, for Respondents.

Justice THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.

The False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq., imposes significant penalties on those who defraud the Government. This case concerns a theory of False Claims Act liability commonly referred to as "implied false certification." According to this theory, when a defendant submits a claim, it impliedly certifies compliance with all conditions of payment. But if that claim fails to disclose the defendant's violation of a material statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirement, so the theory goes, the defendant has made a misrepresentation that renders the claim "false or fraudulent" under § 3729(a)(1)(A). This case requires us to consider this theory of liability and to clarify some of the circumstances in which the False Claims Act imposes liability.

We first hold that, at least in certain circumstances, the implied false certification theory can be a basis for liability. Specifically, liability can attach when the defendant submits a claim for payment that makes specific representations about the goods or services provided, but knowingly fails to disclose the defendant's noncompliance with a statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirement. In these circumstances, liability may attach if the omission renders those representations misleading.

We further hold that False Claims Act liability for failing to disclose violations of legal requirements does not turn upon whether those requirements were expressly designated as conditions of payment. Defendants can be liable for violating requirements even if they were not expressly designated as conditions of payment. Conversely, even when a requirement is expressly designated a condition of payment, not every violation of such a requirement gives rise to liability. What matters is not the label the Government attaches to a requirement, but whether the defendant knowingly violated a requirement that the defendant knows is material to the Government's payment decision.

A misrepresentation about compliance with a statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirement must be material to the Government's payment decision in order to be actionable under the False Claims Act. We clarify below how that rigorous materiality requirement should be enforced.

Because the courts below interpreted § 3729(a)(1)(A) differently, we vacate the judgment and remand so that those courts may apply the approach set out in this opinion.

I

A

Enacted in 1863, the False Claims Act "was originally aimed principally at stopping the massive frauds perpetrated by large contractors during the Civil War." United States v. Bornstein, 423 U.S. 303, 309, 96 S.Ct. 523, 46 L.Ed.2d 514 (1976). "[A] series of sensational congressional investigations" prompted hearings where witnesses "painted a sordid picture of how the United States had been billed for nonexistent or worthless goods, charged exorbitant prices for goods delivered, and generally robbed in purchasing the necessities of war." United States v. McNinch, 356 U.S. 595, 599, 78 S.Ct. 950, 2 L.Ed.2d 1001 (1958). Congress responded by imposing civil and criminal liability for 10 types of fraud on the Government, subjecting violators to double damages, forfeiture, and up to five years' imprisonment. Act of Mar. 2, 1863, ch. 67, 12 Stat. 696.

Since then, Congress has repeatedly amended the Act, but its focus remains on those who present or directly induce the submission of false or fraudulent claims. See 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a) (imposing civil liability on "any person who ... knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval"). A "claim" now includes direct requests to the Government for payment as well as reimbursement requests made to the recipients of federal funds under federal benefits programs. See § 3729(b)(2)(A). The Act's scienter requirement defines "knowing" and "knowingly" to mean that a person has "actual knowledge of the information," "acts in deliberate ignorance of the truth or falsity of the information," or "acts in reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information." § 3729(b)(1)(A). And the Act defines "material" to mean "having a natural tendency to influence, or be capable of influencing, the payment or receipt of money or property." § 3729(b)(4).

Congress also has increased the Act's civil penalties so that liability is "essentially punitive in nature." Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 784, 120 S.Ct. 1858, 146 L.Ed.2d 836 (2000). Defendants are subjected to treble damages plus civil penalties of up to $10,000 per false claim. § 3729(a) ; 28 CFR § 85.3(a)(9) (2015) (adjusting penalties for inflation).

B

The alleged False Claims Act violations here arose within the Medicaid program, a joint state-federal program in which healthcare providers serve poor or disabled patients and submit claims for government reimbursement. See generally 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq. The facts recited in the complaint, which we take as true at this stage, are as follows. For five years, Yarushka Rivera, a teenage beneficiary of Massachusetts' Medicaid program, received counseling services at Arbour Counseling Services, a satellite mental health facility in Lawrence, Massachusetts, owned and operated by a subsidiary of petitioner Universal Health Services. Beginning in 2004, when Yarushka started having behavioral problems, five medical professionals at Arbour intermittently treated her. In May 2009, Yarushka had an adverse reaction to a medication that a purported doctor at Arbour prescribed after diagnosing her with bipolar disorder. Her condition worsened; she suffered a seizure that required hospitalization. In October 2009, she suffered another seizure and died. She was 17 years old.

Thereafter, an Arbour counselor revealed to respondents Carmen Correa and Julio Escobar—Yarushka's mother and stepfather—that few Arbour employees were actually licensed to provide mental health counseling and that supervision of them was minimal. Respondents discovered that, of the five professionals who had treated Yarushka, only one was properly licensed. The practitioner who diagnosed Yarushka as bipolar identified herself as a psychologist with a Ph. D., but failed to mention that her degree came from an unaccredited Internet college and that Massachusetts had rejected her application to be licensed as a psychologist. Likewise, the practitioner who prescribed medicine to Yarushka, and who was held out as a psychiatrist, was in fact a nurse who lacked authority to prescribe medications absent supervision. Rather than ensuring supervision of unlicensed staff, the clinic's director helped to misrepresent the staff's qualifications. And the problem went beyond those who treated Yarushka. Some 23 Arbour employees lacked licenses to provide mental health services, yet—despite regulatory requirements to the contrary—they counseled patients and prescribed drugs without supervision.

When submitting reimbursement claims, Arbour used payment codes corresponding to different services that its staff provided to Yarushka, such as "Individual Therapy" and "family therapy." 1 App. 19, 20. Staff members also misrepresented their qualifications and licensing status to the Federal Government to obtain individual National Provider Identification numbers, which are submitted in connection with Medicaid reimbursement claims and correspond to specific job titles. For instance, one Arbour staff member who treated Yarushka registered for a number associated with " ‘Social Worker, Clinical,’ " despite lacking the credentials and licensing required for social workers engaged in mental health counseling. 1 id., at 32.

After researching Arbour's operations, respondents filed complaints with various Massachusetts agencies. Massachusetts investigated and ultimately issued a report detailing Arbour's violation of over a dozen Massachusetts Medicaid regulations governing the qualifications and supervision required for staff at mental health facilities. Arbour agreed to a remedial plan, and two Arbour employees also entered into consent agreements with Massachusetts.

In 2011, respondents filed a qui tam suit in federal court, see 31 U.S.C. § 3730, alleging that Universal Health had violated the False Claims Act under an implied false certification theory of liability. The operative complaint asserts that Universal Health (acting through Arbour) submitted reimbursement claims that made representations about the specific services provided by specific types of professionals, but that failed to disclose serious violations of regulations pertaining to staff qualifications and licensing requirements for these services.¹ Specifically, the Massachusetts Medicaid program requires satellite facilities to have specific types of clinicians on staff, delineates licensing requirements for particular positions (like psychiatrists, social workers, and nurses), and details supervision requirements for other...