Squire Sanders attorneys, Chris Gordon, a Principal in the Washington, D.C. office, and Rob Nauman, a Senior Associate in the Columbus, Ohio office, were recently interviewed by Modern Healthcare for their take on the relaxation of the interim final rule on waivers of fraud and abuse laws and the antitrust policy statement on ACOs. Their … Continue Reading
On October 20, 2011, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission jointly issued their “Final Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding Accountable Care Organizations Participating in the Medical Shared Savings Program.” The policy statement, which largely mirrors the agencies’ proposed policy statement issued on April 19, 2011, outlines how the agencies will enforce U.S. … Continue Reading
1:15PM—The workshop concluded a few minutes ago. Overall, I suspect that most people present or who listened or viewed the webcast would agree that the discussion was helpful and certainly many excellent points were brought forward to the regulators. Particularly in the second session, the regulators asked many probing questions, a good sign of their … Continue Reading
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
As discussed previously here, here, and here, antitrust matters are a key consideration in the design of the Shared Savings Program and ACO development. For example, antitrust review of prospective ACOs by the FTC and/or DOJ is a critical aspect of the ACO application process. Despite the release of the joint statement, there is evidence … Continue Reading
In commentary to the proposed regulations, CMS has committed to coordinate with other Federal agencies on various issues that relate to the Shared Savings Program. This includes coordination with the FTC and DOJ (the “Antitrust Agencies”) with respect to antitrust issues. This coordination is shown through CMS’s intention to incorporate the FTC/DOJ Proposed Statement on … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice (the “Agencies”) recently released Proposed Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding ACOs, which contains several points of interest: Rule of Reason Treatment. The Agencies will provide rule of reason treatment to an ACO if, in the commercial market, the ACO uses the same governance and leadership structure and … Continue Reading
Discussions among physicians and physician groups contemplating the formation of an ACO can raise concerns under antitrust laws, particularly when those physicians or physician groups are considered competitors in the market. In the absence of contradictory guidance in the forthcoming ACO rules, it is important that physicians engaging in such discussions abide by the following … Continue Reading