The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently released its 2025 statistics for federal False Claims Act cases. With settlements and judgments exceeding $6.8 billion last year, DOJ’s report shows that the False Claims Act (“FCA”) remains one of DOJ’s most potent and frequently-used investigation tools. The annual report also suggests that, after a year of change and turnover that touched virtually every corner and level at DOJ, the coming year will most certainly feature a historically high volume of FCA cases. Recipients of federal funds in the healthcare industry, federal contractors, and grant recipients should pay careful attention to every claim for payment or compliance certification submitted to any federal authority.
According to DOJ’s press release and statistics, 2025 was the high-water mark for FCA settlements and judgments. Since 1987, the earliest date for which DOJ publishes data, FCA recoveries have exceeded a total of $5 billion only three times: approximately $5.1 billion in 2012; over $6.1 billion in 2014; and more than $5.7 billion in 2021. Interestingly, last year’s record-setting total also marked the reversal of three straight years where total recoveries ranged from only $2.2 billion to $3.1 billion.
DOJ has continued to use the FCA to investigate fraud, waste, and abuse among federal contractors, grant recipients, and the health care industry along more non-partisan lines. FCA recoveries in the health care sector have always been the largest share of DOJ’s total. Last year was no exception, with DOJ recovering more than $5.7 billion in the health and human services category, or 83% of DOJ’s total annual recoveries under the FCA. Notably, this ratio is more consistent with historical trends and reverses the previous two years, which saw healthcare’s percentage of total FCA recoveries drop into the 60s. (This shift is likely the result of waning investigations related to COVID-pandemic fraud cases, such that health care-related cases will return to commanding the vast majority of annual FCA matters.) Recoveries from the defense industry in 2024 dropped to $98 million but surged in 2025 to nearly $634 million. Total annual FCA recoveries for “other” sources jumped to $1.2 billion in 2024–due to investigations into COVID-recovery fraud – but dropped to about $532 million in 2025, which was still the second highest total since 2018.
DOJ’s announcement explained that healthcare fraud remains a “leading source” of FCA settlements and judgments. According to the announcement, FCA enforcement plays two important roles: (1) unsurprisingly, recoveries restore funds to federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE; and (2) “protect patients from medically unnecessary or potentially harmful conduct.” DOJ touts success in the areas of managed care, prescription drugs, and unnecessary medical care. DOJ’s press release fact sheet described settlements and judgments that illustrated a focus on these three areas.
Regarding managed care, the fact sheet explains that, because the Medicare Advantage (or Medicare Part C) program “is now the largest component of Medicare, both in terms of federal dollars spent and the number of beneficiaries impacted, the work of the Justice Department in this area is of critical importance.” The numbers demonstrate this priority area with two high dollar settlements for $98 million and $60 million. DOJ’s prescription drugs actions focused on misconduct related to drug pricing, drug dispensing, and illegal kickbacks. Finally, DOJ pursued multiple actions against providers who billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary services and substandard care that “put at risk the health and safety of vulnerable patient populations.”
The type, pace, and volume of FCA case recoveries from 2025 suggests that 2026 will see more of the same. Given their broad bipartisan support, FCA investigations are likely to play a historically significant role in DOJ’s enforcement activities. As noted above, DOJ’s express invitations to whistleblowers are likely to drive up the total number of qui tam cases that DOJ investigates and, therefore, to increase the total number of related settlements or judgments. Contractors and grant recipients should be wary of internal or hotline complaints that have overt or subtle indicators of fraud allegations. If formal DOJ investigative inquiries are made, federal fund recipients should anticipate and expect that DOJ is pushing resources to FCA investigations, so those inquiries should be taken very seriously.