routinely may result in potential criminal, civil, or administrative consequences. Companies facing that overlap have had to decide not only whether to come forward, but also where to make that disclosure. Under the Policy announced today, a company that voluntarily self-discloses criminal conduct affecting a federal health care program to the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section will receive the benefits of HHS-OIG’s SDP – automatically, with no additional direct submission necessary through the HHS-OIG portal.
HHS-OIG separately updated the SDP today to settle the reverse question. The SDP covers conduct that may violate civil or administrative law, and the SDP was updated today to clarify that criminal conduct should be disclosed to the Department of Justice. A company that discloses only to HHS-OIG generally will not have made a voluntary self-disclosure to the Department and generally will not qualify for a declination on that basis. Companies seeking the benefits of both programs should bring potentially criminal conduct to the Fraud Division first.
The policy announced today may be found here . HHS-OIG’s updated protocol may be found here