Effective March 1st, certain providers choosing to self-disclose Stark Law violations must use forms updated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”).Continue Reading CMS Streamlines Stark Law Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP)
Physician Group Practices Take Heed – January 1, 2022 Deadline Approaches for Compliance with CMS’ Recent Changes to Permissible “Group Practice” Compensation Methodologies
Introduction
CMS’ most recent Stark Law rulemaking includes important changes to the rules that allow physician practices to satisfy the definition of “Group Practice” while distributing designated health services (“DHS”) – based profit shares and productivity bonuses. 85 Fed. Reg. 77492 (Dec. 2, 2020) (the “Final Rule”). As these changes go into effect January 1, 2022, and the ability to bill Medicare for DHS is often contingent on satisfying the definition of “Group Practice,” physician practices should take action now to assess their physician compensation arrangements and methodologies under the new rules.Continue Reading Physician Group Practices Take Heed – January 1, 2022 Deadline Approaches for Compliance with CMS’ Recent Changes to Permissible “Group Practice” Compensation Methodologies
Critical Analysis and Practical Implications of CMS’ Changes to the Stark Law’s Implementing Regulations
As mentioned in our November 25, 2000 Healthcare Law Blog article, “Big Changes for Health Care Fraud and Abuse: HHS Gifts Providers Updates to the Stark Law and the AKS, Just in Time for the Holidays,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) on December 2, 2020 making significant changes to the regulatory framework implementing the federal physician self-referral prohibition (the “Stark Law”), 42 C.F.R. 411.351 et seq.
Continue Reading Critical Analysis and Practical Implications of CMS’ Changes to the Stark Law’s Implementing Regulations
Big Changes for Health Care Fraud and Abuse: HHS Gifts Providers Updates to the Stark Law and the AKS, Just in Time for the Holidays
On November 20, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) promulgated much-anticipated and significant final rules intended to “modernize” and “clarify” regulations regarding the Physician Self-Referral Law (“Stark Law Final Rule”) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS Final Rule”). In the immediate future, Sheppard Mullin will post on this Healthcare Law Blog a comprehensive critical analysis of both the Stark Law Final Rule and the AKS Final Rule and their practical impacts.
Continue Reading Big Changes for Health Care Fraud and Abuse: HHS Gifts Providers Updates to the Stark Law and the AKS, Just in Time for the Holidays
CMS’ Blanket Waiver of Stark Law Sanctions During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Opportunities and Limitations
On Monday, March, 30, 2020, CMS released a blanket waiver (the “Waiver”) of the physician self-referral law under section 1135 of the Social Security Act to enable health care provider responses to the COVID-19 outbreak. Effective retroactively to March 1, 2020, the Waiver broadly eliminates certain key Stark Law requirements for direct financial relationships between entities that provided designated health services (“DHS”) and physicians and physician organizations (or immediate family members of physicians). The Waiver will provide tremendous comfort and flexibility to health care providers attempting to respond rapidly and effectively to the COVID-19 outbreak by lowering many administrative hurdles to and other restrictions on effectuating critical financial relationships. Providers seeking to operate under the Waiver, however, should be mindful of its limitations in proceeding with their COVID-19 response plans.
Continue Reading CMS’ Blanket Waiver of Stark Law Sanctions During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Opportunities and Limitations
Critical Analysis of CMS’ Proposed Stark Law Changes
CMS recently published a proposed rule that, if finalized, would fundamentally change and alleviate the manner in which the Stark Law regulatory framework has traditionally applied.
Continue Reading Critical Analysis of CMS’ Proposed Stark Law Changes
CMS and OIG Propose Regulatory Changes Impacting the Scope of the Stark Law and the Federal Health Care Program Anti-Kickback Statute
On October 9, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released proposed rules in conjunction with HHS’ “Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care.” The Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care “aims to remove potential regulatory barriers to care coordination and value-based care created by four key Federal health care laws and associated regulations: (1) the physician self-referral law [(“Stark Law”)]; (2) the anti-kickback statute [(“AKS”)]; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 [(“HIPAA”)]; and (4) the rules… related to opioid and substance use disorder treatment.”
Continue Reading CMS and OIG Propose Regulatory Changes Impacting the Scope of the Stark Law and the Federal Health Care Program Anti-Kickback Statute
Lifting the Limits on Physician-Owned Hospitals: Can Regulators Prevail Where Legislators Have Stalled?
We reported, in early 2017, on what was then the latest legislative effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s amendment to the Stark Law’s whole hospital exception, which amendment has effectively prevented new physician-owned hospitals from participating in the Medicare program. (You can visit—or revisit—that post, which explores arguments in favor of and in opposition to the restriction, here.)
While the Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2017, introduced in the House in February 2017 and, in May 2017, the Senate, did not pass, recent rumblings suggest that repeal efforts are far from exhausted; rather, proponents of physician hospital ownership may be targeting a new tactic: regulation.
Continue Reading Lifting the Limits on Physician-Owned Hospitals: Can Regulators Prevail Where Legislators Have Stalled?