What’s at stake for states that fail to bring their false claims laws in line with new federal standards by the August 31 deadline? A 10% share from settlements of Medicaid fraud lawsuits which, considering the $4.2 billion the federal government recovered in fiscal year 2012, could mean big money. But is it a big enough incentive for states?

Ellyn Sternfield, an attorney in Mintz Levin’s Health Care Fraud Enforcement Defense Practice, weighs in on what some states are thinking in, States Pressured to Match Their False Claims Acts to Federal Law, an article published last week in Thomson Reuters. Many state lawmakers, she says, are reluctant to change their state false claims laws, fearing the resources required to investigate Medicaid false claims and having to share recoveries with whistleblowers may not make it cost-effective.