Tag Archives: Anti-Kickback Statute

OIG Allows Nursing Facility Discounts to Insurers

The HHS Office of Inspector General allows nursing facilities to give discounts to private insurers. OIG Advisory Opinion 17-08 describes a startup company planning to develop a network of nursing facilities (the Network). The company wants nursing facilities in the Network to provide discounts on daily rates charged to a long-term care insurer (Participating Payor) and its Policyholders. Qualifying nursing … Continue Reading

What Kickback Training Overlooks

Effective training prepares healthcare providers to recognize violations of the anti-kickback and false claims statutes. However, a violation may seem just a straightforward business arrangement to those not familiar with the statutes. This article on the Squire Patton Boggs Anti-Corruption blog uses an example to explain that training must focus on remuneration, not just kickbacks.… Continue Reading

CMS Adds to the Growing Guidance on Third Party Premium Payments

On February 7, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memorandum that adds to the growing library of federal guidance on the permissibility of and limitations for health care providers and other entities paying the premiums of patients covered by qualified health plans (QHPs) in the health insurance exchanges or marketplaces.  … Continue Reading

CMS and OIG Ring in the New Year with Final Rules on EHR Donations

On December 27, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) published final rules (“Final Rules”) regarding the electronic health records (“EHR”) donations Stark Law Exception (42 C.F.R. 411.357(w)) and Anti-Kickback Statute Safe Harbor (“AKS Safe Harbor”) (42 C.F.R. … Continue Reading

OIG Okays a Premium Assistance Program

Recently, many stakeholders in the healthcare industry have expressed interest in implementing programs that provide funding to help patients with insurance premium payments.  Until last week, it was unclear whether any type of premium assistance programs would be permissible under federal law.  Finally, in Office of Inspector General (OIG) Advisory Opinion 13-19 posted on December … Continue Reading

OIG Issues Special Fraud Alert: Physician-Owned Distributorships (PODs)

OIG Issues Special Fraud Alert: Physician-Owned Distributorships (PODs) On March 26, 2013 the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert: Physician-Owned Entities (Alert).  The Alert focuses on the specific attributes and practices of “physician-owned entities that derive revenue from selling, or arranging for the sale of, … Continue Reading

How do we develop ACOs that are designed to bring hospitals and physicians closer together while at the same time abide by laws designed to separate them?

Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) presented an hour-long webinar on ACOs and Antitrust, Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Civil Monetary Penalty Law (CMP), hosted by Troy Barsky, Director, Division of Technical Payment Policy and Michael Wroblewski, Performance-Based Policy Payment Staff for CMS. Troy Barsky addressed Stark, AKS and CMP laws.  … Continue Reading

Upcoming CMS and FTC Public Forums Provide Opportunity to Comment on ACO Related Regulations

CMS is on the clock first, with a free webinar titled, “ACOs and Antitrust, Stark, Anti-Kickback, & Civil Monetary Penalty Law Webinar.”  Hosted by Troy Barsky, Director, Division of Technical Payment Policy at CMS and Michael Wroblewski, Performance-based Policy Payment Staff, the event is broken into two sessions this Thursday, May 5th, the first beginning … Continue Reading

Proposed ACO Waiver Regulations: Not Far Enough? An OIG Challenge During My Presentation at Friday's AHLA Medicare and Medicaid Institute

Does anyone else feel that the proposed waiver regulations don’t go far enough? Do you think they allow providers to engage in flexible arrangements that deliver value to the government? The key is how the government has limited the waiver proposals mostly only to the shared savings distributions. That seems too narrow, although I think … Continue Reading

ACO Rules – Initial Observations

The proposed CMS rules for accountable care organizations have only been out a few hours and even the speediest readers are still plowing through them, but a few initial observations are in order: CMS is admitting it needs more than the usual amount of public comment to craft final rules. Perhaps this was intentional but … Continue Reading
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