... even one purpose of the arrangement was to obtain money for the referral of services or an attempt to … They reason that, in enacting the safe harbor protecting compensation paid to bona fide employees, Congress intended to permit this otherwise unlawful practice in the context of the employer-employee relationship, relying on the supervisory function of the employer to curb any abusive practices and essentially imposing no limits on payment practices in this setting. Instead, one should always attempt to tie compensation formulas in some way to the employee’s personally performed services and to carefully avoid formulas that reward an employee purely for referrals in a manner that is entirely divorced from the reimbursable services furnished by that employee. 98-9, 1998 WL 35287764 (proposed arrangement under collective bargaining agreement, whereby nurses would receive additional compensation based on the number of union members and dependents admitted to hospital as inpatients over set periods, was protected under employee safe harbor because, assuming bona fide status of nurse employees, they would be paid for performing covered “nursing and other health care related services,” the extra compensation was “tied to aggregate admissions and not to specific admissions or services,” and to be eligible to receive the money, a nurse could not be “in a position to refer patients to the Hospital”) ). As another part of the Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, OIG proposed revisions to the existing EHR Anti-Kickback Safe Harbor and added a cybersecurity component. Another decision from the Middle District of Florida contains language that is sometimes cited in support of the view that the employee safe harbor permits referral payments, but the facts of that case involved incentive payments tied to personally performed physician services, making reliance on that decision to justify an employer’s unrestricted right to pay referral fees suspect. For 35 years, Chapman Law Group has defended the rights of national health care professionals, providers, and corporations involved in the delivery of health care at all levels. [20] A safe harbor for management contracts and personal services similarly permits a medical practice to contract with an organization for administrative services, or a provider for personal services, provided the compensation paid is fair market value and, once again, is not determined based on the volume or value of any patient referrals generated for the practice. The final rules went on display at the Federal Register … Instead, the defendants relied on her personal and professional contacts to obtains referrals. Satisfying the former requirement without satisfying the latter requirement will not trigger the safe harbor’s protections. [3] See, e.g.,Obert-Hong v. Advocate Health Care, 211 F.Supp.2d 1045, 1050-51 (N.D. Ill. 2002) (employee safe harbor protects “typical hospital-physician employment relationships,” provided that compensation arrangements are “based on personally performed services” and are not “directly related to referrals”). *** The first installment of this series introduced the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law), two of the most well-known anti-fraud and -abuse statutes in the healthcare … Thus, the DME company did not have sufficient control over the manner and means of the work performed by defendants to amount to a bona fide employment relationship. May 12, 2015),“Government Opposition to Motion to Dismiss,” at pp. The Anti-Kickback Statute and Safe Harbors The anti-kickback statute provides criminal penalties for individuals or entities that knowingly and willfully offer, pay, solicit, or receive remuneration in order to induce or reward the referral of business reimbursable under … 3:17-cv-02977-M, U.S. et al. §1320a-7b(f), as amended by Pub. Health care providers have been banking on a special provision of the AKS: the “bona fide employee” safe harbor, which would shield them from civil and criminal liability. Reprinted with permission from the March 5, 2018 issue of Law360. The terms on which an investment interest is offered must not be related to previous or expected volume of referrals, services furnished, or the amount of business otherwise generated from the investor to the ASC. The federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) prohibits any person from “knowingly and willfully” paying, offering, soliciting or receiving any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, in exchange for or to induce the referral of any item or service covered by a federal health care program. Criminal penalties include fines of up to $25,000 per violation and a prison term of up to five years per violation. See, e.g., 42 CFR § 1001.952 (e)-(h), (k), (n), (o), (s)-(y), (bb). C) the “existence or nonexistence of any potential financial benefit to a health care professional or provider which may vary based on their decisions” whether “to order a health care item or service … or … arrange for a referral of health care items or services to a particular practitioner or provider.”[14], HHS was further authorized by statute to issue advisory opinions on matters related to the AKS, including as to “[w]hat constitutes prohibited remuneration within the meaning of Section 1320a-7b(b).” In 1997, additional amendments made the AKS applicable, not just to Medicare and Medicaid, but to all health care programs receiving federal funding. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. We at Chapman Law Group have an extensive track record in health care fraud cases, regularly representing medical professionals in courts across the U.S. Our team includes former health care fraud prosecutors who, in addition to criminal defense, work on medical practice management, compliance and provider billing matters. 2016) (refusing to adopt a statutory interpretation that would “ignore the traditional rule of statutory construction dictating that exceptions to a statute’s general rules be construed narrowly” and deciding to “err on the side of giving maximum effect to the prohibition clause’s general rule”); Torres v. McDermott Inc., 12 F.3d 521, 526 (5th Cir. Case law is conflicting. 2020 11-20-2020 Final Rule: Revisions to Safe Harbors Under the Anti-Kickback Statute, and Civil Monetary Penalty Rules Regarding Beneficiary Inducements. A common violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute that is not protected through an Ambulatory surgery center safe harbor is inducing another physician to perform in the Ambulatory surgery center by offering the outside physician referrals if they perform their procedures at the ambulatory surgery center. The federal Anti Kickback Statute (“AKS”) is a criminal law that arises in the context of individuals and entities that pay or receive anything of value in exchange for referring a patient whose care is compensated in any way by a state or federal healthcare program. Subjecting compensation formulas to a critical legal review will be essential to mitigate risk in this area. Stark, anti-kickback, and fee-splitting laws often refer to illegal “referrals,” … However, unlike the AKS employee safe harbor, the Stark exception has detailed requirements that explicitly prohibit compensation that is “determined in a manner that takes into account (directly or indirectly) the volume or value of any referrals by the referring physician.” 42 C.F.R. Similarly, the parallel regulatory exception states that prohibited remuneration under the AKS “does not include any amount paid by an employer to an employee, who has a bona fide employment relationship with the employer, for employment in the furnishing of any item or service for which payment may be made in whole or in part under Medicare, Medicaid or other Federal health care programs.” 42 CFR § 1001.952(i) (emphasis added).[1]. Additionally, a no-holds-barred interpretation of the safe harbor that might permit an organization to circumvent the AKS prohibition against paying for referrals through the simple expedient of hiring co-conspirators as W-2 employees and then paying them partly or entirely on a per-patient referral basis would be difficult to reconcile, both, with the underlying purpose of … June 20, 2016); United States v. Crinel, 2015 WL 3755896 (E.D. § 1395nn, and claims that this variation results from Congressional intent and the fundamental difference between the two statutory schemes. [24] Additionally, a no-holds-barred interpretation of the safe harbor that might permit an organization to circumvent the AKS prohibition against paying for referrals through the simple expedient of hiring co-conspirators as W-2 employees and then paying them partly or entirely on a per-patient referral basis would be difficult to reconcile, both, with the underlying purpose of the AKS to prohibit kickbacks in health care, and with canons of statutory construction that counsel against interpreting statutory exceptions in a manner that swallows the general rule.[25]. 5-10; United States v. Hoor Naz Jafri, 2013 WL 5656191, at pp. The arrangement is set out in writing, is signed by the parties, and specifies the services covered by the arrangement. [19] United States v. Kuchipudi, Case No. See 42 U.S.C. Our Free Healthcare Compliance eBook is the Essential Roadmap to Keep Your Practice in Check, Is Your Practice Set Up for Controlled Substances to Be Prescribed Electronically? The safe harbor regulations, in their entirety, can be found here. It also can impose additional civil monetary penalties of up to $50,000 per violation plus an assessment of up to three times the amount of the payment. [23] 54 FR 3088, 93 (Jan. 23, 1989); see also 56 FR 35952, 53, 81 (July 29, 1991). Most providers are aware that paying kickbacks for referrals is a felony under the Anti-kickback Statute (AKS), 42 U.S. Code § 1320a–7b (b)(1) 1. Name one way in which the Anti-Kickback Statute differs from the Stark Law. What’s a “Referral”? Here is a familiar situation. [2] There is commentary in the regulations adopting the employee safe harbor indicating that OIG was willing to extend safe harbor protection to employee compensation because it was “confident that the employer-employee relationship is unlikely to be abusive, in part because the employer is generally fully liable for the actions of its employees and is therefore more motivated to supervise and control them.” (56 Fed. 2016) (“Interpreting the statute so as to include this exception would thereby swallow the rule.”); In re Woods, 743 F.3d 689, 699 (10th Circ. [8], Brief History of the Anti-Kickback Statute, In order to better understand the scope and limits of the employee safe harbor, it makes sense to begin with a review of the AKS itself. If you share their questions and concerns, rest assured that in many cases supposed kickbacks are actually covered under federal safe harbor statutes. June 16, 2015). Over the past five years, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have been paying close attention to these kinds of business arrangements. 1-2, Case No. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | DMCA [9] See Pub. 5, 6-7, 9 (May 18, 2016); United States v. Mansaour Sanjar, Case No. Geoffrey R. Kaiser is a partner at Rivkin Radler LLP in Uniondale, New York, in the firm’s compliance, investigations and white collar and health services practice groups. The following payment practices shall not be treated as a criminal offense under section 1128B of the Act and shall not serve as the basis for an exclusion: (a) Investment interests. Reg. There is a view shared by some compliance professionals that the employee safe harbors permit employers to do that which the AKS fundamentally prohibits — i.e., pay for referrals. On June 18, 2015, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $712 million Medicare fraud takedown by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the evidence presented did not support defendant’s affirmative defense that the individuals were bona fide employees. 1175 (1977). [17] The second clause requires that the compensation at issue be paid for employment in the furnishing or provision of covered items and services. In this regard, the HHS Office of Inspector General has observed that such pernicious behavior increases risks associated with “overutilization, increased program costs, corruption of medical decision-making, patient steering and unfair competition.”[16], Agency Interpretations of the Employee Safe Harbor, The employee safe harbor of the AKS contains two clauses. Sign up to receive updates on the following legal topics: Attorney Advertising. The first requires that the employee receiving the compensation be in a bona fide employment relationship (a concept which HHS is barred by statute from analyzing). L. No. A) “patient freedom of choice among health care providers”; New Law Taking Effect 2021 Requires It, America’s Biggest Big-Box Retailer Accused of Aiding Pill Mills, The Estate Planning Checklist You Need as Your Parents Age, Historic Medicare Fraud Takedown Names 73 from Florida, 16 from Michigan, What Are the Penalties for Kickbacks in Health Care? [15] 42 U.S.C. [21] Other safe harbors contain similar language to ensure that business relationships protected under the safe harbors are not used as a cover to purchase referrals in violation of the AKS.[22]. 305.712.7177. Compliance, Investigations & White Collar, Park West Radiology Settles Lawsuit With CareCore National, Mandatory Provider Compliance Certification Due December 31, 2009 Each Year, The Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition, the courts have held that substance is more important than form, and the following factors should be considered when analyzing whether an individual or entity qualifies under the bona fide employee anti-kickback safe harbor: Courts have not been very consistent in analyzing the 13 factors and deciding what constitutes an “employee” — because, as previously stated, no one factor is determinative. 12-73 (M.D. The OIG may also ban providers from participating in federal health care programs under their exclusion authorities. On January 19, 2021, new rules go into effect clarifying and revising the regulatory exceptions to the Stark Law (also known as the Physician Self-Referral Law), the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) safe harbors, and the civil monetary penalty laws related to beneficiary inducements law. On Friday, November 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released new regulations under the Physician Self-Referral Act (Stark) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). 13 CR 312 (N.D. Ill. 2016), “Government’s Response to Defendant’s Consolidated Post-Trial Motions,” at pp. § 411.357(c)(2)(ii). The federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) prohibits any person from “knowingly and willfully” paying, offering, soliciting or receiving any remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, in exchange for or to induce the referral of any item or service covered by a federal health care program. This codifies the statutory exception of remuneration related to incentive … [24] See, e.g., U.S. v. Starks, 157 F.3d at 839, supra (in making referrals, defendants “were not providing covered items or services” and payment for referrals was “not for any legitimate service for which the Hospital received any Medicare reimbursement”). In “Physician Guide to Basic Compliance Concepts,” Chapman Law Group’s national healthcare compliance attorneys cover how to spot and avoid healthcare fraud, handling investigations and audits, and keeping your staff in the right. 1-2; United States v. Crinel, Case No. [5] United States v. Jackson, 220 Fed. v. Medoc Health Services LLC, et al. Similar protections are found in many other safe harbors, consistent with the mandate that safe harbors preserve patient choice and industry competition, while preventing use of financial incentives to steer referrals to particular providers. 941.893.3449, 701 Waterford WaySuite 340Miami, FL 33126T. [8] See, e.g., U.S. v. Borrasi, 639 F.3d 774, 781 (7th Cir. If a physician or medical provider uses any payment or compensation to encourage a patient, 1441 W Long Lake RoadSuite 310Troy, MI 48098T. The absence of such an exception is arguably another sign that, in the view of OIG, the employee safe harbor does not protect payments to employees purely for directing referrals to their employers. 92-603, §242(b), 86 Stat. No. The text of the safe harbor itself, moreover, is not congruent with the view that compensation may be paid to employees solely for referrals. 2014) (“Flowing from this interpretive principle — that we must construe [statutory] exceptions narrowly — is the related concept that exceptions must not be interpreted so broadly as to swallow the rule.”); see also Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Clark, 489 U.S. 726, 739 (1989) (“In construing [statutory] provisions … in which a general statement of policy is qualified by an exception, we usually read the exception narrowly in order to preserve the primary operation of the provision.”); Piedmont & N. Ry. 2007) (affirming conviction under the AKS based on payments made to employee for patient referrals, where referral compensation was paid in separate checks from employee’s regular payroll checks). The cited commentary is consistent with paying a range of incentives to physicians based on personally performed services, such as, for example, by allowing participation in bonus pools generated wholly or partly from their services. In Jack Carrel, et al. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.  All rights reserved. 92-231 at p. 107 (1971). Appx. Fla. 2013) (Huck, J. Rept. [9] The legislative history makes clear that these provisions were intended to strengthen the legal framework for combating practices that had “long been regarded by professional organizations as unethical, which are unlawful in some jurisdictions, and which contribute significantly to the cost of the [Medicare and Medicaid] programs.”[10], The AKS was amended in 1977 to make violations a felony, bolstering the penalties against “illegal practices by some individuals who provide services under Medicare and Medicaid” which “contribute significantly to the cost of the programs.”[11] The amendments expanded the AKS’s reach to cover “any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe or rebate), directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or kind,” id. However, this Safe Harbor will not be met if the compensation fluctuates with the amount of business generated. § 1395nn; 42 C.F.R. As used in section 1128B of the Act, “remuneration” does not include any payment that is a return on an investment interest, such as a dividend or interest income, made to an investor as long as all of … Some courts interpret the AKS safe harbor as protecting traditional employment relationships that would allow compensation paid to employees for personally performed services reimbursable under a federal health care program, including incentive compensation tied to such services, but not compensation divorced from services that is paid solely for directing referrals to a particular provider. Both the statutory and regulatory safe harbors require by their terms that the remuneration paid for which protection is sought, be for employment in furnishing or providing covered items and services. Pa.). [25] U.S. v. One (1) Palmetto State Armory PA-15 Machinegun, 822 F.3d 136, 140-41 (3d Cir. 1994) (exceptions to remedial statutes carving out that which would otherwise be included “are to be strictly construed”). 317 (5th Cir. Advisory opinions issued by HHS consistently interpret the second clause of the safe harbor as requiring that the compensation under review be paid to the employee for furnishing covered items or services, and not merely for referrals. 2014. The court determined there was no evidence that employees: (i) received any training or direction about marketing; (ii) kept regular office hours; (iii) didn’t have offices; and (iii) the referral sources were not provided by the DME company. Fla. Nov. 26, 2013) (interpreting the safe harbor to permit employee compensation paid to induce referrals on facts showing that incentive compensation paid to physician employees was derived from a bonus pool that included revenues generated from and distributed on the basis of the “personally performed services” those employees). The AKS has a broad impact on health care providers’ business arrangements, specifically when it relates to marketing agreements, because it criminalizes the payment of any funds or benefits designed to encourage a party to a Medicare provider for services to be paid for by the Medicare program. As noted, those advisory opinions indicate that, in the view of HHS, it is a condition of applying the employee safe harbor that employees be paid for furnishing a covered item or service, and not simply for directing referrals to particular providers. [3] In contrast, two federal district court decisions in the Fifth Circuit[4] have ruled that bona fide employees may be paid solely for referrals without violating the AKS, but these rulings arguably conflict with a ruling of the Fifth Circuit,[5] making their validity, even within the Fifth Circuit, open to question. These Anti-Kickback Statute ("AKS") safe harbors and Ethics in Patient Referrals Act (the "Stark Law") exceptions, when squarely met, afford protection for certain financial relationships between healthcare providers and other entities that are subject to these laws. ***This is the second installment in a blog series examining the regulatory environment and key concerns for persons or businesses operating in the healthcare industry. False Unlike the mandatory exceptions under the Stark Law, compliance with safe harbors is voluntary and, therefore, not recommended. Adobe Reader is required to view... Get legal updates and news delivered to your inbox. The proponents of those EHR […] Florida Physicians: Are You Prepared for the 2021 Medical License Renewal Process? Recent Anti-Kickback Safe Harbor Revisions: What Hospices Should Know January 06, 2021 The US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued important updates to its Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) safe harbor rules that provide additional legal protections and flexibilities, in particular with regard to value-based enterprise (VBE) … However, many providers are unaware of the requirements to fit squarely within this safe harbor — specifically, the issue of what constitutes an “employee” under the safe harbor regulation. The AKS and subsequent regulations include voluntary safe harbors, which “describe various payment and business practices that, although they potentially implicate the federal anti-kickback statute, are not treated as offenses under the statute.” 42 C.F.R. Similarly, nonphysician salespersons marketing items such as durable medical equipment, medical devices or pharmaceuticals may be viewed as “furnishing” reimbursable items and thus entitled, under the safe harbor, to receive financial incentives, including commission-based compensation. Anti-Kickback Statute “Safe Harbors” Of course, healthcare providers make many referrals that do not violate the Anti-Kickback Statute by taking advantage of the “safe harbors” that are written into the Statute and exempt certain referral arrangements from its prohibitions. 00-02, 2000 WL 35747412 (determining hospital’s payment of compensation to nonphysician employees for cost-saving suggestions based on a percentage of the savings realized by the hospital would likely not implicate the AKS because most employees did not have authority to implement the cost-savings suggestion for which they would receive payment and the terms of the program would not reward employees for recommending particular vendors, but realizing “some payments … might implicate the anti-kickback statute if the requisite intent to induce referrals were present”) (emphasis added); Advisory Opinion No. 04-09, 2004 WL 5701854 (proposed arrangement between geriatric practice group and referring primary care physicians under which the latter would provide consulting services at an hourly rate was protected under employee safe harbor because, assuming bona fide status of employee, physicians would be paid “for the furnishing of covered items and services”; noting that AKS “disfavors payment structures that tie compensation, even for services, to patients referred by the compensated party” but creates exception where services are furnished by bona fide employees); Advisory Opinion No. All Rights Reserved. Update: Head to our resource page “Responding to COVID-19: Resources for Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring” Read our latest blogs on this topic: “Proposed Anti-Kickback Statute “Patient Engagement and Support” Safe Harbor: Implications for Remote Patient Monitoring and other Care Management Services Vendors” and “HHS Proposes New Safe … You can get in to very big financial trouble, and lose your license. On November 20, 2020, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released heavily anticipated final rules revising the regulatory exceptions to the Physician Self-Referral Law (also known as the Stark Law), the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) safe harbors, and the Beneficiary Inducements Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) regulations. The federal Anti-Kickback Statute contains a statutory exception or “safe harbor” providing that the AKS will not apply to “any amount paid by an employer to an employee (who has a bona fide employment relationship with such employer) for employment in the provision of covered items or services.” 42 U.S.C. 15-61 (E.D. L. 95-142, 91 Stat. [7] Other courts, in varying degrees and circumstances, have rejected efforts to use the employee safe harbor to protect referral payments. We represent licensed medical professionals, including: Your email address will not be published. The OIG finalized three new value-based arrangement safe harbors that were generally narrower than the Stark exemptions and aim to protect certain payments among individuals. With the exception of safe harbors for cost-sharing waivers for certain ambulance services and for free or discounted local transportation, all of the safe harbors are existing statutory exceptions to the anti-kickback statute. The AKS was first enacted through the Social Security Amendments of 1972 in order to combat fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Further, if the employment is less than full, time, the exact … Under this statute, an employee is any worker that satisfies the common law rules for establishing employer-employee relationship. ... Stark exception to the referral prohibition related to compensation arrangements for incentive plans between an entity and a physician … Oct. 4, 2013),“Government Opposition to Motion to Dismiss,” at pp. Our National Criminal Law Attorneys Explain, Healthcare Fraud Defense & Health Care Criminal Defense, The hiring party’s right to control the manner and means by which the product is accomplished, The source of the instrumentalities and tools, The duration of the relationship between the parties, Whether the hiring party has the right to assign additional projects to the hired party, The extent of the hired party’s discretion over when and how long to work, The hired party’s role in hiring and paying assistants, Whether the work is part of the regular business of the hiring party, Finally, no one factor is determinative; “all of the incidents of the relationship must be assessed and weighed.”, Anti-kickback (federal and state specific) and. In many instances, the “employee” gets a base salary and a healthy commission for all the referrals he/she brings to the provider. [19], Such a view would be consistent with the limits of other regulatory safe harbors that protect certain common business arrangements from prosecution under the statute. 500North Hollywood, CA 91601 T. 305.712.7177, 6841 Energy CourtSuite 120Sarasota, FL 34240T. The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued the final rule “Revisions to the Safe Harbors Under the Anti-Kickback Statute and Civil Monetary Penalty Rules Regarding Beneficiary Inducements,” and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule “Modernizing and Clarifying the Physician Self-Referral Regulations.” The safe harbor regulations define payment and business practices that will not be considered kickbacks, bribes, or rebates that unlawfully induce payment by Medicare or Medicaid programs. Miami Office1001 Brickell Bay Drive, Suite 1714Miami, FL 33131Phone: (305) 712-7177. The regulations (found here and here ) include significant changes to existing provisions to the Stark regulations and AKS safe harbors, as well as new exceptions under … 1999-2000 (1996). La. 35952; July 29, 1991): Final rulemaking promulgating the 10 original safe harbor provisions. 1329, 1419 (1972). [10] H.R. Anti-kickback safe harbor changes The AKS rule finalizes and modifies existing safe harbors and creates new ones. 493 (11th Cir. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the firm, its clients, or Portfolio Media Inc., or any of its or their respective affiliates. The safe harbor contains no exception for drivers or others who might otherwise be bona fide employees of organizations offering such services. [15], Legislative history thus indicates that the AKS was enacted to remove the corrupting effects of kickbacks in health care by outlawing behavior designed to game the system by using financial incentives to direct patient referrals to a particular health care provider and away from other providers rendering the same type of care. 20, 2016 ) ; Pub 95-393 at p. 48 ( 1977 ) ; United States v. Hoor Naz,... Post-Trial Motions, ” at pp employee is any worker that satisfies the common Law Rules establishing. ) ( b a safe harbor relates to kickbacks for referrals ( b ) ( exceptions to Anti-Kickback statutes Anti-Kickback laws prohibit from! States v. Hoor Naz Jafri, 2013 WL 5656191, at http: //oig.hhs.gov/compliance/physician-education/01laws.asp health care programs their! Halifax Hospital, 2013 WL 6196562 at * * 13-14, n.17 ( March 25 2015. 92-603, §242 ( b ) ( 3 ) ( 2 ) ( 2 (. V. Kuchipudi, Case No medical license Renewal Process ( 305 ) 712-7177 affirmative defense that individuals. 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Fide employees of organizations offering such services CFR ⧠1001.952 ( a ), “Government Opposition to to. Reprinted with permission from the March 5, 2018 issue of Law360 in very. 1395Nn, and lose your license, Case No of business generated 3d Cir and the... 136, 140-41 ( 3d Cir, 86 Stat any sort of financial remuneration the. Harbor, which is not drafted with the same precision as the Stark Law compliance. To $ 25,000 per violation and a prison term of up to $ 25,000 violation. Harbor’S protections v. Jackson, 220 Fed further duplication without permission is prohibited. All reserved. Opposition to Motion to Dismiss, ” at pp the Anti-Kickback Statute, an employee is any that! Requirement will not be met if the compensation fluctuates with the amount of business generated years per violation a... Bay Drive, Suite 1714Miami, FL 33126T Law employees include employer,... For determining common Law Rules for establishing employer-employee relationship programs under their authorities! Medical professionals, including: your email address will not trigger the harbor. If you share their questions and concerns, rest assured that in many cases supposed kickbacks actually! * 1-2 ( M.D article focuses only on the AKS safe harbor will not trigger the safe harbor which! For the 2021 medical license Renewal Process this field is for validation purposes is. This area oct. 4, 2013 WL 6196562 at * * 13-14, n.17 ( March,. Wall v. Vista Hospice care Inc., 2016 WL 3449833 ( N.D. Ill. 2016 ) Pub. The factors for determining common Law employees include employer control, supervision and training of the employee strictly... Legal topics: Attorney Advertising a “ referral ” 5, 2018 of. The proponents of those EHR [ … ] Anti-Kickback safe harbor will not be taken as advice... Fl 34240T: are you Prepared for the 2021 medical license Renewal Process the Stark exception, (. Get in to very big financial trouble, and specifies the services covered the. 3 ) ( 3 ) ( emphasis added ) ] as discussed below, however, it s! Legal advice ” at pp a safe harbor relates to kickbacks for referrals far from clear that this variation from... Is any worker that satisfies the common Law Rules for establishing employer-employee.... Armory PA-15 Machinegun, 822 F.3d 136, 140-41 ( 3d Cir 10 original safe harbor,! Can get in to very big financial trouble, and specifies the services covered by the is! Harbors under the Stark exception 19 ] United States v. Kuchipudi, Case.! Assured that in many cases supposed kickbacks are actually covered under federal safe harbor provisions, at pp arrangement. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | DMCA © 2021 Rivkin Radler LLP ( c (... Notices containing preambles to the safe harbor, which is not intended be!

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