Suggestions for Safe Harbor proposals face a deadline of February 27, 2018, according to a Federal Register announcement. The same deadline applies to suggestions for practices that should be discussed in a Special Fraud Alert. Safe Harbors The Office of Inspector General (OIG) requests recommendations for Safe Harbors because the Anti-kickback statute “is so broad” that “relatively … Continue Reading
Health care fraud accounts for billions of the US health expenditure each year. This week HHS published a study addressing possible deficiencies in CMS’ capability to address fraud vulnerabilities and ensure the integrity of electronic health records (“EHR”) systems which CMS and its contractors use to pay Medicare claims. Concerns about whether CMS’ oversight and … Continue Reading
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
On November 13, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory A. Presnell of the Middle District of Florida partially granted the U.S. government’s summary judgment motion against Halifax Hospital Medical Center (“Halifax”). Judge Presnell ruled that Halifax failed to demonstrate that bonus compensation arrangements it made with medical oncologists satisfied a Stark Law exception. Judge Presnell found … Continue Reading
In the September 2013 edition of the Cleveland Bar Journal, Colin Jennings and Tom Zeno described the government’s determination to challenge medical decision making as medically not necessary. To read the article, visit Uncle Sam Becomes a Doctor: Government Challenges to Medical Necessity. Recent prosecutions have been born out of their prediction. In October 2013, … Continue Reading
Capping a case that has drawn the attention of healthcare lawyers and hospital executives nationwide, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina has ordered Tuomey Healthcare System, Inc. (“Tuomey”) to pay over $237* million for violations of the Stark Law and False Claims Act arising from certain employment agreements between Tuomey and … Continue Reading
Squire Sanders lawyers Thomas E. Zeno (Washington DC) and Kimberly J. Donovan (Miami) co-authored the article “Rx for Fraud: The Feds Get Personal,” just published in the Winter 2012 edition of Criminal Justice, a magazine of the American Bar Association. In the ten-page article, Tom and Kimberly discuss the federal government’s expanded tactics for combating … Continue Reading
