AKS

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On September 28, 2023, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued Advisory Opinion 23-06, involving a proposed services arrangement between a pathology laboratory (the Requestor) and third-party referring pathology laboratories. 

The OIG determined that, if the requisite intent were present, the proposed purchase of the technical component of anatomic pathology services from certain laboratories would generate prohibited remuneration under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). In doing so, the OIG highlighted the proposal’s lack of commercial reasonableness and reaffirmed its longstanding suspicion over arrangements that “carve out” federal health care program business.Continue Reading OIG Issues Unfavorable Advisory Opinion Concerning Pathology Lab’s Proposed Purchased Services Arrangements

On February 28, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a favorable advisory opinion regarding an arrangement through which a pharmaceutical company provides free enzyme replacement therapy (“ERT”) medication to patients who satisfy certain eligibility requirements where the patients’ insurer is delayed in making a coverage determination.

The OIG noted that, although the arrangement would generate prohibited remuneration under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) if conducted with the requisite intent, it would not impose administrative sanctions. Further, the OIG opined that the arrangement would not generate prohibited remuneration under the beneficiary inducement prohibition (“Beneficiary Inducement CMP”).Continue Reading OIG allows drug company to provide free medication during coverage determination delay

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently weighed in on the causation standard for False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases premised on Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) violations. United States ex rel. Cairns v. D.S. Med. LLC, 42 F.4th 828 (8th Cir. 2022). The panel adopted a strict interpretation, finding that the government or whistleblowers must show a “but-for” causal relationship between kickbacks and claims for payment to establish the requisite link in the FCA liability chain, creating a circuit split on an issue that courts have struggled with for years.

The decision is notable for FCA defendants as it offers support for a defense they have long asserted, and that courts have been reluctant to condone, including an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that refused to require a direct causal link between an AKS violation and a false claim.Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Finds “But-For” Causation Standard for AKS-Premised FCA Cases

With another presidential transition in the history books, you may find it unsurprising to hear that many of us at Reed Smith are continuing to closely monitor and track which of the outgoing Trump administration’s “midnight regulations” will survive past the early months of the Biden administration. But for those less familiar with the topic…

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released complementary rules this past Friday, November 20, 2020, to modernize and clarify the regulations that interpret the Physician Self-Referral Law (the Stark Law) and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

As we wrote when the proposed rules were released last autumn (see client alerts here and here),…

The much-anticipated final rules modernizing the safe harbors under the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the physician self-referral exceptions under the Stark Law are officially under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) anticipates publishing the final rules in August 2020, although that target date is…