Material Lives: Amending the False Claims Act to Restore Qui Tam Medicaid Enforcement and Protect Our Most Vulnerable Communities

In 2016, the Supreme Court granted cert. in Universal Health Services, Inc. v United States ex rel. Escobar to resolve a circuit split on implied certification under the False Claims Act. The Court’s opinion also addressed the issue of materiality under the False Claims Act. The “rigorous standard” expounded by the Court raised the standard of materiality beyond simple contractual or regulatory noncompliance. This heightened standard represents a significant departure from previous jurisprudence. Moreover, the heightened standard frustrates the repeatedly expressed will of Congress to empower qui tam whistleblowers to prosecute fraud perpetrated on the government. The primary focus of this Note is the effect this new materiality standard will have on Medicaid qui tam actions. This Note proposes that post-Escobar Congress should amend the False Claims Act’s materiality definition to return the act to the original intention of its drafters. This will allow potential Medicaid fraud perpetrators to again fully face the threat of qui tam enforcement envisioned by Congress, preventing potentially disastrous effects on the United States’ most vulnerable communities

Status Report on Landslide Area on I-75, Covington, Kentucky [May 1963]

This report has been prepared to describe the history and present condition of a landslide area on Interstate Route I-75 in Covington, Kentucky, This landslide is one of several to be studied as part of a research project on the Development of a Practical Method of Locating and Tracing Seepage Water in Unstable Slopes. On April 10, 1963, a request was submitted to the Bureau of Public Roads to change the Work Program HPS-1(24) to include this research project. Approval was received on May 2, 1963. Work done on this research project prior to May 2 was at Department of Highway expense with work accomplished since being done on a participating basis. An attempt will be made to give the history of earth movement at this particular site and to describe the condition of the area at the present time. This discussion will be presented in chronological order using photographs and sketches to illustrate the situation. A site plan of the general area of earth movement is shown in Figure 1. The details shown in black in this figure represent features that were being constructed or had been constructed at the time the first earth movement was noted. Plans are being made to attempt to locate and trace the paths of water that may be contributing factors in this landslide movement. Various techniques are being given serious consideration for this purpose and include the use of fluorescent dyes, radioactive tracers and the electrical resistivity apparatus

Seal Coat Application to Clark Memorial Bridge

The maintenance of the surface of the approach ramps and bridge deck of the Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville has presented certain problems over the past few years. The ramps at each end of the bridge are rather steep, and on the Louisville side the ramp intersects Main Street where traffic movements are controlled by traffic signals. Thus, the northbound traffic accelerating upgrade from a stop and the southbound traffic braking to a stop on the downgrade present two very severe conditions that the surface must withstand. The increased use of salt for snow and ice removal has also contributed to deterioration of the surface

The Crab Orchard and Osgood Formations: The Case for Slope Instability

For the past few years, the Division of Research, as a part of its continuing study of the occurrence of landslides in Kentucky, has reviewed and studied several sites in order to identify and delineate the geologic and soil formations which might be involved in the unstable earth masses. After a study of a number of landslides, it became evident that one particular material was highly susceptible to the development of landslides. This material, in Eastern Kentucky, is known as the Crab Orchard Formation and was deposited during the middle Silurian age. The Crab Orchard Formation, a deposit some 50 to 120 feet thick, is extensively mapped in the eastern portion of the State and correlates geologically with the Osgood Formation mapped in the western portion of Kentucky. The Crab Orchard and Osgood Formations are primarily shale deposits with some thin, discontinuous beds of dolomite. Soils which typically develop from these formations include the Rockcastle, Rarden, Fleming, and Fawcett series

Kentucky Soils: Their Origin, Distribution and Engineering Properties

Soil is the product of the action of climate and living organisms upon parent materials, as conditioned by local relief. The length of time over which these forces are operative is of great importance in determining the properties of the final soil product. Altogether, there are five principal factors in soil formation: 1.) climate, 2.) biological activity, 3.) nature of the parent material, 4.) topography, and 5.) time. The major differences in the soils of Kentucky result chiefly from differences in 1.) the rocks from which the parent materials were derived and 2.) the topographic position of the materials

Portland Cement Stabilization of Western Kentucky Gravels

It has been known for some time that some Western Kentucky bank gravels perform rather poorly as base or shoulder material. In the fall of 1956, the Division of Research participated in the experimental design and evaluation of a group of ten rural highway base stabilization projects. Two of these projects, one in Ballard County and one in Marshall County involved the stabilization of Western Kentucky bank gravels with a bituminous material; AE-200, a mixing-type emulsion, was used. The performance of these bitumirlous-stabilized gravels has not been entirely satisfactory. Even though little tendency was noted for the asphalt to bleed to the surface, some sections were deeply marked and remarked by each passing vehicle. It may have been that the addition of the bituminous material served to lubricate rather than cement the materials together. It was pointed out in the above mentioned report that Western Kentucky gravels have usually been treated with bituminous materials or calcium chloride in attempted stabilizations with generally unsatisfactory results. It was pointed out that portland cement, lime, or limefly ash might be more successfully used to stabilize these gravels. To further investigate these bank gravels, a preliminary laboratory study has been made on two samples from the Jackson Purchase Region. The area from which the samples were taken represents the highest elevations in the undulating plain of the Purchase Region - the ridges in the area consist of chert and limestone of Mississippian age capped by the Tuscaloosa gravel or the Lafayette formation