Washington State legislature considers new Whistleblower statute

By: Angela

Tomorrow (2/15), the Washington State House Committee on Judiciary is scheduled for a public hearing on a bill that would allow an individual whistleblower to file a suit against a Medicaid-contracting provider for fraudulent billing of our state’s Medicaid program. The Senate passed its version of the bill last week.

This new law would give the “relator” (a.k.a whistleblower) with inside information the power to bring a civil suit through his or her own attorney; the Office of the Attorney General could then review the suit (which would be filed under seal) and choose whether to intervene in the suit on the state’s behalf. What is most remarkable about this bill is that a relator can receive between 15% to 30% of the recovery, if any. This gives whistleblowers big financial incentive to call out billing fraud perpetrated by their employers.