Which party may be held liable under the False Claims Act?

The False Claims Act (FCA) is a law designed to combat fraud against the government, particularly in healthcare and other sectors that involve federal funding. Under the FCA, liability is not limited to a specific type of entity or individual. Instead, both individuals and entities can be held accountable for submitting false claims or defrauding government programs. This includes healthcare providers such as doctors and hospitals, as well as corporate entities such as health insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The rationale behind allowing both individuals and entities to be liable is to ensure comprehensive coverage in preventing and addressing fraud. This encourages accountability across all levels of operation within organizations and helps to protect federal resources from being misappropriated.

In this context, the other options that restrict liability to only one group—either healthcare providers or healthcare entities or even specifically government employees—do not reflect the broad scope of the law as it applies to anyone who may submit a false claim, regardless of their role. Thus, the correct answer recognizes the FCA's inclusive reach concerning potential liability.