FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
October 2, 2008
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
PUBLISH Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
TENTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
ex rel. BRIAN E. CONNER, M.D.,
and BRIAN E. CONNER, M.D.,
CHARTERED,
Plaintiffs–Appellants and
Cross–Appellees,
v.
SALINA REGIONAL HEALTH
CENTER, INC.,
Nos. 07-3033 and 07-3035
Defendant–Appellee and
Cross–Appellant.
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HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION
RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT AND
JUST HEALTH,
Amicus Curiae in support of
Plaintiff–Appellants and
Cross–Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Kansas
(D.C. No. 01-CV-2269-CM)
Ronald H. Clark, Arent Fox, Washington, D.C. (Randall A. Brater, Arent Fox,
Washington, D.C., and Douglas L. Carter, Kansas City, Missouri, with him on the
briefs), for the Plaintiffs–Appellants and Cross–Appellees.
James D. Griffin, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, LLP, Kansas City, Missouri
(Stephen J. Torline and Lori J. Sellers, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, LLP,
Kansas City, Missouri; John W. Mize and Peter S. Johnston, Clark, Mize &
Linville, Chtd., Salina, Kansas, with him on the briefs), for Defendant–Appellee
and Cross–Appellant.
Sharon J. Arkin, Arkin & Glovsky, Lake Forest, California, on the brief for
Amicus Curiae.
Before LUCERO and EBEL, Circuit Judges, and FRIZZELL, * District Court
Judge.
LUCERO, Circuit Judge.
Brian E. Conner, M.D., and Brian E. Conner, M.D., Chartered 1 (“Conner”)
brought this qui tam action on behalf of the United States and against Salina
Regional Health Center, Inc. (“SRHC”), alleging, among other things, violations
of the False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq. Conner asserted that
SRHC violated the FCA by seeking payment for Medicare services rendered while
in violation of a host of Medicare regulations and statutes. His theory of falsity
under the FCA is premised on the observation that each time SRHC files an
“annual cost report” with the government, it certifies within that report that it has
*
The Honorable Gregory K. Frizzell, United States District Court Judge,
Northern District of Oklahoma, sitting by designation.
1
Brian E. Conner, M.D., Chartered employs Conner and is the professional
association through which Conner practices medicine.
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complied with Medicare laws and regulations. Conner alleges that SRHC
therefore submitted false claims to the government because it was not in total
compliance with those laws and regulations. Following a motion by SRHC to
dismiss for failure to state a claim, the district court rejected this theory and
dismissed Conner’s FCA claims.
On appeal, we must decide whether a qui tam plaintiff, proceeding under
the FCA, can maintain a cause of action against a Medicare provider based on an
allegation that the provider’s certification of compliance with Medicare statutes
and regulations, contained in the annual cost report, renders all claims submitted
for reimbursement by that provider false within the meaning of the FCA.
Like the district court, we hold that the FCA cannot be stretched this far, and
affirm the dismissal of Conner’s FCA claims. We also affirm the dismissal of
Conner’s related allegation that SRHC submitted false claims by violating the
Medicare Anti-kickback statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b (“Anti-kickback statute”),
for failure to state a violation of the Anti-kickback statute.
On cross-appeal, SRHC challenges the district court’s conclusion that
several state law claims pursued by Conner were not barred by the Kansas statute
of limitations. We agree with SRHC that the district court erred in finding these
claims timely filed under Kansas law and in its use of Rule 15 of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure, and thus remand to the district court for the limited
purpose of dismissing Conner’s state law claims with prejudice.
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I
For 18 years, Conner, an opthamologist and eye surgeon, worked as a
member of the medical staff at SRHC’s facilities in Salina, Kansas. Many of
Conner’s patients qualified for Medicare or Medicaid, and SRHC is a provider in
the Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs. As a result, SRHC received
payments from the government as remuneration for services provided to patients
served by these programs.
During the mid-1990s, Conner and SRHC developed a contentious
relationship. SRHC administrators challenged Conner’s practices in the operating
room and his treatment of hospital scrub staff. Conner complained to the hospital
that it hired underqualified scrub staff, provided inadequate facilities and
equipment, failed to meet required standards of care, and failed to investigate or
review complaints concerning quality-of-care issues. In 1995, as the result of a
dispute over surgery performed on a particular patient, SRHC suspended Conner’s
privileges to perform certain ophthalmic procedures at its facilities.
On May 6, 1996, SRHC’s Chief Executive Officer sent Conner a letter
regarding the circumstances under which the hospital would restore Conner’s
privileges:
Many disputes have arisen with you over after-hours staffing for
retinal reattachment procedures. If surgical scrub staff assigned to
work for you do not meet your needs, you will be responsible for
contracting with preferred scrub staff for your procedures.
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The letter also explained that the hospital would adopt Conner’s recommendation
that he work with SRHC’s surgery department to provide additional training to
the hospital’s scrub staff, because staff “with more experience are preferred by
you.” Conner later refused to sign a “cooperation agreement” that required him to
provide his own scrub staff when he was not satisfied with SRHC staff, and the
hospital in turn refused to lift his suspension. He continued, however, to perform
other types of surgery until early 1997, when SRHC declined to reappoint him to
its medical staff.
Upon the hospital’s refusal to reappoint him to its medical staff, Conner
began litigating a variety of claims against SRHC. He first filed suit in Kansas
state court in 1997, unsuccessfully seeking an order enjoining SRHC from
denying his application for reappointment. In 1999, Conner sued SRHC in
federal district court, alleging violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and asserting claims
for breach of contract, tortious interference, and injunctive relief. The court
dismissed the § 1983 claim and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction
over the state law claims. We affirmed the dismissal. See Conner v. Salina Reg’l
Health Ctr., Inc., 56 F. App’x 898 (10th Cir. Feb. 12, 2003) (unpublished).
Conner refiled the state law claims in a Kansas court in 2000 but voluntarily
dismissed this second state case in February 2004.
Conner brought the present qui tam lawsuit on June 1, 2001, alleging
violations of the FCA. The United States has declined to intervene. On June 16,
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2004, Conner filed a Third Amended Complaint, which added the state law claims
from the lawsuit he voluntarily dismissed in February 2004. He later filed the
now-operative Fourth Amended Complaint, 2 which contained the same claims.
Only a few of the nine counts in Conner’s complaint are at issue in this
appeal. Conner’s federal law causes of action allege that SRHC violated two
sections of the FCA by presenting false or fraudulent claims for Medicare
reimbursement. See 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1) & (2). 3 These counts actually
comprise two distinct legal arguments. Conner first claims that SRHC presented
false claims because it was in violation of various regulations and statutes
establishing Medicare 4 conditions of participation at all times from 1987 until the
present day. 5 Conner’s complaint describes some of these alleged violations in
2
All further references to the plaintiff’s complaint refer to the Fourth
Amended Complaint unless otherwise specified.
3
Although Conner’s complaint also alleged violations of § 3729(a)(3) and
(7), he does not appeal the district court’s dismissal of his claims under these
subsections.
4
Conner’s arguments apply equally to Medicare and Medicaid because
hospitals participating in Medicaid must meet the standards of participation for
Medicare. See 42 C.F.R. § 482.1(a)(5). For simplicity, we use “Medicare” to
refer to participation in both programs.
5
Specifically, Conner asserts that SRHC violated the following statutes and
regulations: 42 C.F.R. § 482.1 et seq. (setting forth conditions of participation
for hospitals participating in Medicare); 42 U.S.C. § 1395dd (requirements for
examination and treatment of emergency medical conditions); § 2000d
(prohibition against discrimination in federally assisted programs);
§ 1320a-7(b)(6)(B) (allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
(continued...)
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detail. Conner next alleges that SRHC presented false claims because it was in
violation of the Anti-kickback statute. He suggests that SRHC violated this
statute by asking Conner to provide his own surgical scrub staff if he was
unhappy with those employed by the hospital. In addition to the FCA-related
claims, Conner’s complaint asserts claims arising under Kansas law, including
breach of contract and tortious interference. He also seeks injunctive relief.
SRHC moved to dismiss all claims under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(6) and, alternatively, for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 56. The district court disposed of the case in two orders. In the first
order, it ruled that Conner had failed to state a claim under the FCA for SRHC’s
alleged failure to comply with Medicare statutes and regulations because the
government’s payment for services rendered was not conditioned on such
compliance. See United States ex rel. Conner v. Salina Reg’l Health Ctr., Inc.,
459 F. Supp. 2d 1081, 1086-87 (D. Kan. 2006). It also dismissed his claim under
the Anti-kickback statute, concluding that Conner’s complaint failed to allege that
the hospital had solicited a kickback in return for Medicare referrals. Id. at 1090.
According to the court, Conner “merely allege[d] a dispute between two
healthcare providers about valid and legal ways to provide surgical support,
5
(...continued)
exclude from Medicare participation those facilities failing “to meet
professionally recognized standards of health care”).
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which does not affect Medicare payments.” Id.
As to the state law claims, the court declined to dismiss those claims as
time barred under the applicable Kansas statute of limitations. The court
concluded that the claims—which were part of an amended complaint that Conner
did not serve until September 21, 2004—were timely because, under Federal Rule
of Civil Procedure 15(c), they related back to conduct alleged in the original
federal pleading in this case. The amended claims were thus timely, it reasoned,
because they commenced as of June 1, 2001, the date Conner filed his first
complaint. Id. at 1093-94. In a subsequent order, however, the district court
declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims and
dismissed them without prejudice.
Conner now appeals the district court’s rulings on his FCA claims, and
SRHC cross-appeals the district court’s decision that the statute of limitations did
not bar Conner’s state law claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291.
II
Relying on Rule 12(b)(6), the district court dismissed Conner’s claims
under the FCA for failure to state a claim and refused to dismiss the state law
claims as time barred under the same Rule 12(b)(6) standard. We review a
district court’s application of Rule 12(b)(6) de novo. Trentadue v. Integrity
Comm’n, 501 F.3d 1215, 1236 (10th Cir. 2007). Dismissal is appropriate only if
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the complaint, viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff, “lacks ‘enough facts
to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Bell Atl.
Corp. v. Twombly, 127 S. Ct. 1955, 1974 (2007)).
A
The FCA “covers all fraudulent attempts to cause the government to pay
out sums of money.” United States ex rel. Boothe v. Sun Healthcare Group, Inc.,
496 F.3d 1169, 1172 (10th Cir. 2007) (quotation omitted). Under the qui tam
provision of the statute, any individual can sue on behalf of the United States
government to recover for the government’s payment of fraudulent claims. 31
U.S.C. § 3730(b). Invoking this provision, Conner alleges that SRHC violated
two subsections of the FCA, those which create liability for
[a]ny person who—
(1) knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, to an officer or
employee of the United States Government . . . a false or fraudulent
claim for payment or approval [or]
(2) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, a false
record or statement to get a false or fraudulent claim paid or
approved by the Government . . . .
31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)-(2). Although Conner brings separate claims for
violations of each subsection, his assertions share a common element that proves
fatal to his theory of the case: Connor has not alleged that SRHC submitted a
legally fraudulent or false claim, as required by the FCA. See Mikes v. Straus,
274 F.3d 687, 695-96 (2d Cir. 2001) (noting that both § 3729(a)(1) and (a)(2)
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require proof of a false or fraudulent claim).
The FCA recognizes two types of actionable claims—factually false claims
and legally false claims. In a run-of-the-mill “factually false” case, proving
falsehood is relatively straightforward: A relator must generally show that the
government payee has submitted “an incorrect description of goods or services
provided or a request for reimbursement for goods or services never provided.”
Id. at 697. By contrast, in a claim based on an alleged legal falsehood, the relator
must demonstrate that the defendant has “certifie[d] compliance with a statute or
regulation as a condition to government payment,” yet knowingly failed to
comply with such statute or regulation. Id. (emphasis added); see also Shaw v.
AAA Eng’g & Drafting, Inc., 213 F.3d 519, 531 (10th Cir. 2000) (allowing
§ 3729(a)(1) liability to attach under a theory of false certification for invoices
submitted for payment where contractor failed to comply with specific
requirements within its contract with the government). Conner’s claims fall in the
latter category.
In this circuit, legally false certification claims can rest one of two
theories—express false certification, and implied false certification. Id. An
express false certification theory applies when a government payee “falsely
certifies compliance with a particular statute, regulation or contractual term,
where compliance is a prerequisite to payment.” Mikes, 274 F.3d at 698. This
promise may be any false statement that relates to a claim, whether made through
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certifications on invoices or any other express means. See U.S. ex rel. Hendow v.
Univ. of Phoenix, 461 F.3d 1166, 1172 (9th Cir. 2006) (“So long as the statement
in question is knowingly false when made, it matters not whether it is a
certification, assertion, statement, or secret handshake; False Claims liability can
attach.”).
Under an implied false certification theory, by contrast, courts do not look
to the contractor’s actual statements; rather, the analysis focuses on the
underlying contracts, statutes, or regulations themselves to ascertain whether they
make compliance a prerequisite to the government’s payment. See United States
ex rel. Siewick v. Jamieson Sci. & Eng’g, Inc., 214 F.3d 1372, 1376 (D.C. Cir.
2000); see also Shaw, 213 F.3d at 531-33. If a contractor knowingly violates
such a condition while attempting to collect remuneration from the government,
he may have submitted an impliedly false claim. See Id., at 531-32.
Conner is adamant on appeal that he proceeds only under a theory of
express false certification. When an the express certification does not state that
compliance is a prerequisite to payment, we must look to the underlying statutes
to surmise if they make the certification a condition of payment. See United
States v. Southland Mgm’t Corp., 288 F.3d 668, 679 (5th Cir. 2002); cf. Harrison
v. Westinghouse Savannah River Co., 176 F.3d 776, 786 (4th Cir. 1999). The
district court evaluated the underlying Medicare regulations and statutes and
concluded that they did not condition payment on the certification of compliance
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within the annual cost report. See Conner, 459 F. Supp. 2d at 1086-87. Conner
effectively concedes on appeal that the regulations do not contain such a
condition, either implicitly or explicitly, but urges us to look to the certification
contained in SRHC’s annual cost reports. According to Conner, this certification,
standing alone, explicitly conditions Medicare payments on compliance with all
applicable Medicare statutes and regulations.
To explain why the FCA cannot support such expansive liability in the
absence of an underlying statute or regulation that conditions payment on
compliance with the certification, we begin with an explanation of how medical
providers submit claims for Medicare payment. When a hospital provides a
service, it submits individual Medicare reimbursement forms to an intermediary
for the government, which calculates and dispenses estimated periodic payments
for the services rendered by the provider. See United States ex rel. Schell v.
Battle Creek Health Sys., 419 F.3d 535, 539 (6th Cir. 2005). These periodic
payments are not considered final payments, however, because the actual monies
due to the provider are calculated based on actual costs, which are calculated on
an annual basis. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395x(v)(1)(A) & 1395f(b). The provider is
thus required to submit an annual cost report to the government, which contains
comprehensive information on Medicare costs and services provided in the
previous year. See In re TLC Hosps., Inc., 224 F.3d 1008, 1011 (9th Cir. 2000).
The government’s intermediary then audits the expenses noted, relying on the
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revised cost report, and determines whether the government has overpaid or
underpaid the provider for the year. Id. at 1011-12; see also 42 C.F.R. §
405.1803(a). After the audit is completed, the intermediary credits or charges the
provider for the difference between its estimated and final Medicare
reimbursement. 42 C.F.R. § 405.1803(c).
It is within the annual cost report that Conner urges us to find an express
false certification. By regulation, the provider’s administrator or chief financial
officer must make the following certification with each annual cost report:
I hereby certify that I have read the above certification statement and
that I have examined the accompanying electronically filed or
manually submitted cost report and the Balance Sheet Statement of
Revenue and Expenses prepared by ______ (Provider Name(s) and
Number(s)) for the cost reporting period beginning ___ and ending
___ and that to the best of my knowledge and belief, this report and
statement are true, correct, complete and prepared from the books
and records of the provider in accordance with applicable
instructions, except as noted. I further certify that I am familiar with
the laws and regulations regarding the provision of health care
services, and that the services identified in this cost report were
provided in compliance with such laws and regulations.
42 C.F.R. § 413.24(f)(4)(iv) (emphasis added).
Although this certification represents compliance with underlying laws and
regulations, it contains only general sweeping language and does not contain
language stating that payment is conditioned on perfect compliance with any
particular law or regulation. Nor does any underlying Medicare statute or
regulation provide that payment is so conditioned. Thus, by arguing that the
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certification’s language is adequate to create an express false certification claim,
Conner fundamentally contends that any failure by SRHC to comply with any
underlying Medicare statute or regulation during the provision of any Medicare-
reimbursable service renders this certification false, and the resulting payments
fraudulent. Lest there be any doubt about the potential impact of this proposed
theory, Conner estimates that the United States has been damaged by SRHC in an
amount exceeding $100,000,000 per year in reliance on allegedly false
certifications.
“[L]iability [under the FCA] does not arise merely because a false
statement is included within a claim, but rather the claim itself must be false or
fraudulent.” United States ex rel. A+ Homecare, Inc. v. Medshares Mgm’t Group,
Inc., 400 F.3d 428, 443 (6th Cir. 2005). A false certification is therefore
actionable under the FCA only if it leads the government to make a payment
which it would not otherwise have made. See, e.g., United States ex rel. Hopper
v. Anton, 91 F.3d 1261, 1266 (9th Cir. 1996). Or, put another way, the “false
statement must be material to the government’s decision to pay out moneys to the
claimant.” Hendrow, 461 F.3d at 1172; see also United States ex rel. Marcy v.
Rowan Cos., 520 F.3d 384, 389 (5th Cir. 2008); Medshares, 400 F.3d at 442-43;
United States ex rel. Costner v. United States, 317 F.3d 883, 886-87 (8th Cir.
2003); United States ex rel. Berge v. Bd. of Trs. of the Univ. of Ala., 104 F.3d
1453, 1459-60 (4th Cir. 1997). But see United States ex rel. Cantekin v. Univ. of
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Pittsburgh, 192 F.3d 402, 415 (3d Cir. 1999) (declining to decide if materiality is
an element of an FCA claim). 6 If the government would have paid the claims
despite knowing that the contractor has failed to comply with certain regulations,
then there is no false claim for purposes of the FCA.
This brings us to a related and significant distinction. Where a contractor
participates in a certain government program in order to perform the services for
which payments are eventually made—in this case, Medicare—courts are careful
to distinguish between conditions of program participation and conditions of
payment. See United States ex rel. Gross v. AIDS Research Alliance-Chicago,
415 F.3d 601, 604 (7th Cir. 2005) (“An FCA claim premised upon an alleged
false certification of compliance with statutory or regulatory requirements . . .
requires that the certification of compliance be a condition of or prerequisite to
6
Although we have not previously stated that the plaintiff must show
materiality in FCA cases, see Shaw, 213 F.3d at 534, numerous courts have
observed that certification analysis is essentially a way to determine whether
compliance was material to the government’s decision to pay. See, e.g.,
Hendrow, 461 F.3d at 1173 (explaining false certification in terms of materiality);
United States ex rel. Landers v. Baptist Mem’l Health Care Corp., 525 F. Supp.
2d 972, 979 (W.D. Tenn. 2007); United States ex rel. Pogue v. Diabetes
Treatment Ctrs. of Am., Inc., 238 F. Supp. 2d 258, 264 (D.D.C. 2002) (“The
implied certification theory essentially requires a materiality analysis.”).
Although we now explicitly adopt a materiality requirement in the context of false
certification claims, we do not address whether materiality is an element of the
criminal false claims provision or under other theories of FCA liability. See
Medshares, 400 F.3d at 444 n.12 (noting that “[w]ith regard to materiality, the
language of the civil [FCA] provision is substantially different than its criminal
counterpart”).
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government payment.”); Mikes, 274 F.3d at 701-02 (discussing conditions of
participation versus payment in an implied certification context). Conditions of
participation, as well as a provider’s certification that it has complied with those
conditions, are enforced through administrative mechanisms, and the ultimate
sanction for violation of such conditions is removal from the government
program. See Mikes, 274 F.3d at 701-02; 42 C.F.R. § 424.535(a)(1) (providing
for revocation of Medicare bill privileges based on provider noncompliance).
Conditions of payment are those which, if the government knew they were not
being followed, might cause it to actually refuse payment.
A brief review of the scheme for managing Medicare participation will
demonstrate that the annual cost report certification does not condition the
government’s payment on perfect compliance with all underlying statues and
regulations, but rather seeks assurances that the provider continues to comply
with the conditions of participation originally agreed upon. Reading the FCA
otherwise would undermine the government’s own administrative scheme for
ensuring that hospitals remain in compliance and for bringing them back into
compliance when they fall short of what the Medicare regulations and statutes
require.
Before participating in the Medicare program, hospitals must undergo
inspections, which may be conducted by private accreditation organizations. See
42 C.F.R. § 488.5(a). They must also complete a Medicare Participation
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Certification, which includes a representation that the provider has complied with
all applicable laws and regulations. 7 After the organization is accredited, the
government may at any time initiate a “validation survey,” which may be
conducted by a state agency, § 488.10(c), that ensures ongoing compliance with
Medicare conditions. § 488.7. These surveys may be initiated on a
“representative sample basis,” or in the case of specific suspected violations, such
as those Conner alleges here, “in response to “substantial allegations of
noncompliance.” § 488.7(a). A provider’s ultimate compliance with a particular
requirement or condition of participation “depends upon the manner and degree to
which the provider or supplier satisfies the various standards within each
condition.” § 488.26(b).
Even if, as the result of the survey, a provider appears noncompliant, the
government does not immediately suspend Medicare enrollment or billing
privileges. Rather, the relevant regulations permit the provider to create a plan of
correction, and allow a reasonable period of time—usually 60 days—to address
any deficiencies. See § 488.28(a), (c) & (d). These procedures grant “[a]ll
7
For the first time on appeal, Conner maintains that this certification,
contained in “Form 855A,” creates FCA liability based on a theory of promissory
fraud. “[W]e have repeatedly declined to allow parties to assert for the first time
on appeal legal theories not raised before the district court, even when they fall
under the same general rubric as an argument presented to the district court,”
United States v. A.B., 529 F.3d 1275, 1280 n.4 (10th Cir. 2008), and we again
decline to do so here.
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providers and suppliers . . . an opportunity to correct the deficient compliance . . .
before a final determination to revoke billing privileges.” § 424.535(a)(1). Only
after finding that the provider has not “substantially” complied may the
government, at its discretion, terminate a Medicare participation agreement. 42
U.S.C. § 1395cc(b)(2); see also Evelyn v. Kings County Hosp. Ctr., 956 F. Supp.
288, 292 (E.D.N.Y. 1997). And even in those cases, Conner cites no regulations
or case law indicating that the government normally seeks retroactive recovery of
Medicare payments for services actually performed on the basis that the
noncompliance rendered them fraudulent.
It follows that the certification in the annual cost report represents the
provider’s assurance that it continues to comply with the requirements of
Medicare participation. Implied in this certification is the recognition that the
provider could face consequences through the administrative procedures described
above if it falls short of substantial compliance. Based on the fact that the
government has established a detailed administrative mechanism for managing
Medicare participation, we are compelled to conclude that although the
government considers substantial compliance a condition of ongoing Medicare
participation, it does not require perfect compliance as an absolute condition to
receiving Medicare payments for services rendered.
By contrast, consider if Conner’s view of the certification were correct. An
individual private litigant, ostensibly acting on behalf of the United States, could
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prevent the government from proceeding deliberately through the carefully crafted
remedial process and could demand damages far in excess of the entire value of
Medicare services performed by a hospital. If successful, the consequences of
such an action would likely be catastrophic for hospitals that provide medical
services to the financially disadvantaged and the elderly. See Evelyn, 956 F.
Supp. at 292 (noting the parties’ agreement that defendant’s termination from the
Medicare program “would effectively shut down a public hospital since it could
not operate without federal funds”). Further, rather than relying on the
experience of state agencies to survey compliance, such a broad reading of the
FCA and the certification would burden the federal courts with deciding whether
medical services were performed in full compliance with a host of Medicare
statutes and regulations. As the Second Circuit has cautioned, “courts are not the
best forum to resolve medical issues concerning levels of care.” Mikes, 274 F.3d
at 700. It is therefore with good reason that the agencies of the federal
government, rather than the courts, manage Medicare participation in the first
instance in cooperation with the states and accreditation organizations. See id.
(“[P]ermitting qui tam plaintiffs to assert that defendants’ quality of care failed to
meet medical standards would promote federalization of medical malpractice, as
the federal government or the qui tam relator would replace the aggrieved patient
as plaintiff.”). And when an individual plaintiff is harmed, state tort law remains
a powerful incentive for hospital to provide quality care. There is thus no basis in
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either law or logic to adopt an express false certification theory that turns every
violation of a Medicare regulation into the subject of an FCA qui tam suit.
Although we are the first circuit to squarely reject Conner’s sweeping
annual cost report false certification theory, other courts have reached similar
holdings that support our conclusion. Perhaps most on point is Hopper. There, a
relator sued a school district under the FCA, claiming that it had violated the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.,
with respect to its handling of special education students. Hopper, 91 F.3d at
1263. The relator alleged that, among other things, the district had submitted a
triennial certificate stating that it would “‘meet all applicable requirements of
state and federal law and regulations,’ including ‘general compliance’ with the
IDEA.” Id. at 1265. This certification, she argued, made all claims for
government special education funding false because the district had, in fact, failed
to meet the requirements imposed by IDEA regulations. Id. The court disagreed,
holding that there was no “false claim” under the FCA. Id. at 1267. In reasoning
that “[m]ere regulatory violations do not give rise to a viable FCA action,” the
Ninth Circuit was careful to observe that there were “administrative and other
remedies for regulatory violations.” Id. Because the government’s payment was
not itself conditioned on the certification, the court recognized that the FCA was
not an appropriate avenue for the relator to pursue a cause of action based in
allegations of regulatory noncompliance. Id.
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This reasoning applies equally to Conner’s broad proposition that, by virtue
of the cost report certification, Medicare payments are expressly conditioned on
perfect ongoing compliance with all regulations at all times. Nevertheless, as
other courts have recognized, some regulations or statutes may be so integral to
the government’s payment decision as to make any divide between conditions of
participation and conditions of payment a “distinction without a difference.”
Hendrow, 461 F.3d at 1177. In Hendrow, which provides a telling contrast to the
present case, a relator filed an FCA action against a university, alleging that it
falsely promised to comply with Title IV’s ban on “incentive compensation”
simply to become eligible for Title IV federal funds. 461 F.3d at 1168-69. The
court held that the incentive compensation ban was material to the government’s
payment decision. It observed that, in the absence of FCA liability, “the
University would be virtually unfettered in its ability to receive funds from the
government while flouting the law.” Id. at 1176. It was careful, however, to
“completely distinguish[]” this scenario from the Medicare context, where
relevant regulatory compliance is “ensured by peer review and extensive
monitoring.” Id. at 1177.
Moreover, unlike Hendrow, not only is it far from clear that the government
intended the cost report certification to condition payment on full regulatory
compliance, but the government has also created a complex monitoring and
remedial scheme that ends Medicare payments only as a last resort. It would thus
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be curious to read the FCA, a statute intended to protect the government’s fiscal
interests, to undermine the government’s own regulatory procedures. We
therefore emphasize that our resolution of this case does not preclude the
possibility that certain Medicare statutes or regulations might expressly or
implicitly condition payment on certification of compliance under a false
certification theory.
Conner relies heavily on United States ex rel. Thompson v. Columbia/HCA
Healthcare Corp., 20 F. Supp. 2d 1017 (S.D. Tex. 1998), where a district court
held that compliance with the Anti-kickback statute was a condition of payment,
and that violations of that statute rendered the certification in the annual cost
report false. Id. at 1047. Conner would have us read Thompson more
expansively to support his broader proposition. Even if we were inclined to adopt
the Thompson court’s narrow holding regarding express certification and the
Anti-kickback statute, however, it would not lend any weight to the argument
advanced in this case. That court’s reasoning extended only to violations of the
Anti-kickback statute, and not the broader theory that a cost report certification
could expressly condition all Medicare payments on compliance with the full host
of technical Medicare requirements, including quality of care standards. Id. at
1046-47. 8
8
Because, as we will explain, Conner’s Anti-kickback statute claims fail
(continued...)
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The other cases cited by Conner generally involve classic fraud scenarios
and do not support his broad theory. For example, United States ex rel.
Augustine v. Century Health Services, Inc., 136 F. Supp. 2d 876 (M.D. Tenn.
2000), involved an FCA claim alleging that a health provider had billed Medicare
for certain employee stock ownership plan contributions for which it was not
entitled to reimbursement. Id. at 878. The issue in Augustine was simply
whether certain expenses, for which the provider sought reimbursement, were
actually allowable costs under Medicare. Id. at 887. In such a case, where the
validity of actual costs is at issue, there can be little question that had the
government known of the alleged fraud, it would not have made the payments.
See also In re Cardiac Devices Qui Tam Litigation, 221 F.R.D. 318, 346-47 (D.
Conn. 2004) (“To the extent that defendants included in their Cost Reports
payments for non-covered items, this would render their certifications false. . . .
8
(...continued)
for other reasons, we do not decide whether we would adopt the Thompson
court’s reasoning. We note, however, that several other courts have followed
Thompson’s reasoning and reached similar conclusions. See, e.g., United States
ex rel. McNutt v. Haleyville Med. Supplies, Inc., 423 F.3d 1256, 1260 (11th Cir.
2005) (holding that violations of the Anti-kickback statute are actionable as false
statements under the FCA); United States ex rel. Schmidt v. Zimmer, Inc., 386
F.3d 235, 243 (3d Cir. 2004) (same); United States v. Rogan, 459 F. Supp. 2d
692, 717 (N.D. Ill. 2006) (“Falsely certifying compliance with the Anti-kickback
Statute in a Medicare cost report is actionable under the FCA.” (citations
omitted)); United States ex rel. Barrett v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., 251
F. Supp. 2d 28, 32 (D.D.C. 2003); United States ex rel. Kneepkins v. Gambro
Healthcare, Inc., 115 F. Supp. 2d 35, 43 (D. Mass. 2000).
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To hold otherwise would give defendants free reign to submit claims for any and
all types of non-covered services.”).
B
Conner also asserts that SRHC violated the FCA by submitting claims
while failing to comply with the Anti-kickback statute. We need not decide
whether violations of the Anti-kickback statute are actionable through the FCA,
see Thompson, 20 F. Supp. 2d at 1047, because Conner has not alleged a kickback
within the meaning of the Anti-kickback statute. 9
The Anti-kickback statute forbids “any remuneration knowingly and
willfully offered, paid, solicited, or received in exchange for Medicare or
Medicaid patient referrals.” United States v. LaHue, 261 F.3d 993, 996 (10th Cir.
2001); see also 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(1)(A). Its prohibition applies both to
kickbacks offered as cash and those provided “in kind.” § 1320a-7b(b)(1).
Conner alleges that SRHC violated the statute by “forc[ing]” him to provide scrub
staff at his own expense, in exchange for the receipt of hospital privileges and the
attendant lucrative right to receive Medicare referrals.
A careful reading of Conner’s complaint reveals that he has not stated an
actionable claim under the FCA based on the Anti-kickback statute. Conner and
9
As noted, SRHC has not contested as a legal matter Conner’s assertion
that a violation of the Anti-kickback statute could serve as a predicate for FCA
liability.
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SRHC disagreed regarding whether SRHC had hired qualified scrub staff trained
to assist in “more difficult or specialized surgeries.” (Compl. ¶ 47). As Conner’s
issues with the scrub staff became a barrier to his reappointment, SRHC proposed
a compromise: If Conner did not like the scrub staff the hospital provided, he
could provide his own. Even Conner admits that he was not required to furnish
scrub staff at his own expense, but rather that the hospital allowed him to “furnish
scrub personnel . . . or else passively accept whatever persons and facility
provisions that SRHC chose to provide his surgery patients.” (Compl. ¶ 53). In
fact, SRHC did not even require Conner to choose between accepting the
hospital’s staff or providing his own; rather, it explicitly offered to provide
additional training to scrub staff with Conner’s assistance.
Such a proposal does not resemble an illegal kickback arrangement and
belies any allegation of willful and knowing intent. It may be true that a devious
Medicare provider could create a kickback scheme in which it avoided hiring
scrub staff and thus falsely profited at the government’s expense by forcing
doctors to provide their own staff in return for privileges and referrals. But,
Conner’s allegations depart from this hypothetical scheme in two significant
ways. First, there is no suggestion in the complaint that SRHC ever refused, or
threatened to refuse, to provide scrub staff. SRHC provided scrub staff, and
Conner simply disapproved of them. Thus, the only issue was Conner’s opinion
that the hospital’s scrub staff fell below the requirements of Medicare
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participation. If Conner was correct, SRHC would be subject to the usual
consequences for violating Medicare regulations, including ultimately a possible
loss of accreditation or termination of its Medicare participation agreement. His
refusal to use this allegedly sub-par staff and SRHC’s attempt to accommodate
this refusal, however, does not amount to a kickback.
Second, SRHC’s letters to Conner discuss conditions under which Conner’s
appointment would be renewed. They do not, in any way, address his ability to
receive Medicare referrals. Although it is true that the hospital would presumably
not refer Medicare patients to Conner if he was not reappointed to the hospital’s
staff, this was merely a collateral consequence of a decision that, fundamentally,
involved Conner’s underlying right to associate with SHRC. The hospital’s
decision not to reappoint Conner prevented him from operating on any patient at
SRHC, not just Medicare patients referred by the hospital or another doctor. It
applied equally to a patient paying out of pocket or with private insurance.
Conner’s dispute with SRHC thus involved only his underlying appointment on
the hospital’s medical staff, and not his right to receive Medicare referrals.
SRHC’s attempt to broker a private compromise with an independent physician
who was dissatisfied with the hospital’s accommodations is not a solicitation for a
kickback within the meaning of the statute. The district court therefore properly
dismissed this count for failure to state a claim.
-26-
III
SRHC cross-appeals the district court’s ruling that Conner’s state law
claims were not barred by the applicable statutes of limitations. 10 When
determining whether state law claims are timely commenced, we look to state
law. Burham v. Humphrey Hospitality Reit Trust, Inc., 403 F.3d 709, 712 (10th
Cir. 2005). Our review of the district court’s application of the state statute of
limitations is de novo. Bass v. Potter, 522 F.3d 1098, 1102 (10th Cir. 2008).
The parties agree that Conner’s state law claims accrued at the latest on
October 17, 1997, when the SRHC Board of Trustees affirmed the decision to
deny Conner’s application for reappointment. Conner filed a state lawsuit that
included these claims within the relevant limitations period, but voluntarily
dismissed the state case on February 12, 2004. Because the state case was
dismissed “otherwise than upon the merits,” Kansas law allowed Conner six
months to commence a new action which included those claims. See Kan. Stat.
Ann. § 60-518. This means that Conner’s claims survive only if he commenced
this action by August 12, 2004.
For purposes of Kansas’s statutes of limitations, an action is “commenced”
10
Despite this conclusion, the district court declined to exercise
supplemental jurisdiction over these claims and later dismissed them without
prejudice. Under the circumstances, SRHC has standing to appeal the dismissal
on the merits because a holding in its favor would likely prevent Conner from
refiling these claims in state court. Amazon, Inc. v. Dirt Camp, Inc., 273 F.3d
1271, 1275-76 (10th Cir. 2001).
-27-
on the date a complaint is filed, but only if the plaintiff serves the complaint
within 90 days of filing. § 60-203(a)(1). In the event the party fails to make
service within 90 days, the action is commenced on the day that service is
actually effected. § 60-203(a)(2). In this case, Conner filed his First Amended
Complaint on June 1, 2001, but did not add the challenged state law claims until
his Third Amended Complaint, which was filed on June 16, 2004. He did not
serve SRHC with that complaint until September 21, 2004, 97 days after he filed
that complaint and over three years after he filed the First Amended Complaint.
Under a straightforward application of Kansas law, Conner’s state law claims are
untimely because the action was not commenced until service on September 21,
2004, which was more than a month after the six-month refiling period had run.
Nevertheless, the district court concluded that Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 15(c)(1)(B) obviates the need for timely notice under Kansas law when
a claim is added in an amended complaint. Rule 15(c)(1)(B) provides:
An amendment to a pleading relates back to the date of the original
pleading when . . . the amendment asserts a claim or defense that
arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set out—or
attempted to be set out—in the original pleading . . . .
Applying Rule 15(c), the district court concluded that Conner’s Third Amended
Complaint “related back” to the original complaint filed on June 1, 2001, because
it arose out of the same conduct alleged in Conner’s original federal pleading, and
consequently ruled that the state law claims were timely.
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We cannot agree. It may well be that the amended complaint related back
under Rule 15(c), but this has nothing to do with the timely service requirement
of Kansas’s statute of limitations. Federal courts apply state rules concerning
statutes of limitations because such statues embody “a substantive decision by
that State that actual service on, and accordingly actual notice by, the defendant is
an integral part of the several policies served by the statute of limitations.”
Walker v. Armco Steel Corp., 446 U.S. 740, 751 (1980); see also Hanna v.
Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 463 n.1 (1965) (holding that a federal rule governing the
means of service trumped a state rule, noting that the federal rule, like the state
rule, aimed to provide actual notice to a defendant).
Only where there is a direct conflict between a federal and state rule must
the federal rule prevail. Walker, 446 U.S. at 744. Here, this is no conflict; Rule
15(b) governs relation-back of pleadings, and the Kansas rule creates an actual
notice requirement for statute of limitations purposes. Notably, Kansas has its
own relation-back rule, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-215(c), which we have recognized as
“essentially identical” to Rule 15(c). Prime Care of Ne. Kan., LLC v. Humana
Ins. Co., 447 F.3d 1284, 1289 n.6 (10th Cir. 2006). Kansas applies this rule in
conjunction with, not instead of, § 60-203(c)’s service requirement. See Housh v.
Hay, 128 P.3d 409, 411 (Kan. Ct. App. 2006). In Housh, the court held that when
a time-barred amended complaint related back to a timely initial complaint, § 60-
203(a)(1) required the plaintiff to make service of the amended complaint within
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90 days of the original timely complaint. Id. If Kansas construes its version of
Rule 15(c) as consistent with § 60-203(c), then we must adhere to that
construction. 11
Rule 15(b) determines when amended pleadings “relate back” to the
original pleading; it does not change the conditions under which an action is
“commenced” for the purposes of the state statute of limitations. The federal rule
does not preempt § 60-203(a), and § 60-203(a) plainly requires timely service or
actual notice to a defendant. Thus, regardless of whether Rule 15(c) applies, the
unavoidable fact remains that Conner did not serve SRHC within 90 days of either
the First or Third Amended Complaints. His state law claims are barred by the
statute of limitations because the refiling period had run when he first served
SRHC. Consequently, the district court should have dismissed the pendant claims
with prejudice. 12
IV
11
It would also be a curious result if a plaintiff in a federal action could
avoid serving a defendant with notice of a complaint until years after the
limitations period ended, but be barred from proceeding in a state case with an
identical procedural history.
12
In an alternative argument, Conner maintains that because qui tam FCA
cases must be filed under seal, the statute of limitations should have been tolled
until the district court unsealed Conner’s complaint. See 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(2)
(requiring a qui tam plaintiff to file FCA complaint in camera, and prohibiting
service on the defendant until the court so orders). But this argument was neither
presented to, nor ruled on by, the district court, and we will not consider it on
appeal. Meyerhoff v. Michelin Tire Corp., 70 F.3d 1175, 1182 (10th Cir. 1995).
-30-
For the reasons stated, we AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal of
Conner’s FCA claims. We VACATE the dismissal of his state law claims
without prejudice, however, and REMAND with instructions to dismiss those
claims with prejudice.
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United States Ex Rel. Conner v. Salina Regional Health Center, Inc.
Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Date filed: 2008-10-02
Citations: 543 F.3d 1211
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