Contact: Alwyn Cassil (202) 205-0333
FEDERAL ANTI-KICKBACK LAW AND REGULATORY SAFE HARBORS
Overview: On the books since 1972, the federal anti-kickback law's main purpose is to protect patients and the federal health care programs from fraud and abuse by curtailing the corrupting influence of money on health care decisions. Straightforward but broad, the law states that anyone who knowingly and willfully receives or pays anything of value to influence the referral of federal health care program business, including Medicare and Medicaid, can be held accountable for a felony. Violations of the law are punishable by up to five years in prison, criminal fines up to $25,000, administrative civil money penalties up to $50,000, and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs.
Because the law is broad on its face, concerns arose among health care providers that some relatively innocuous -- and in some cases even beneficial -- commercial arrangements are prohibited by the anti-kickback law. Responding to these concerns, Congress in 1987 authorized the Department to issue regulations designating specific "safe harbors" for various payment and business practices that, while potentially prohibited by the law, would not be prosecuted.
The Office of Inspector General has previously published 13 regulatory safe harbors, 11 in 1991 and two in 1992. A new final rule scheduled for publication in the Nov. 19, 1999, Federal Register will establish eight new safe-harbor provisions and clarify six of the original 11 safe harbors published in 1991. These proposals were published in the Federal Register in 1993 and 1994 and have been significantly modified in response to voluminous public comments. Additionally, an interim final rule establishing a safe harbor for shared-risk arrangements is scheduled for publication in the Nov. 19, 1999, Federal Register. After publication of the two new rules, there will be a total of 23 anti-kickback safe harbors consolidated in the Code of Federal Regulations in 21 subparagraphs.
FEDERAL ANTI-KICKBACK LAW AND REGULATORY SAFE HARBORS
Overview: On the books since 1972, the federal anti-kickback law's main purpose is to protect patients and the federal health care programs from fraud and abuse by curtailing the corrupting influence of money on health care decisions. Straightforward but broad, the law states that anyone who knowingly and willfully receives or pays anything of value to influence the referral of federal health care program business, including Medicare and Medicaid, can be held accountable for a felony. Violations of the law are punishable by up to five years in prison, criminal fines up to $25,000, administrative civil money penalties up to $50,000, and exclusion from participation in federal health care programs.
Because the law is broad on its face, concerns arose among health care providers that some relatively innocuous -- and in some cases even beneficial -- commercial arrangements are prohibited by the anti-kickback law. Responding to these concerns, Congress in 1987 authorized the Department to issue regulations designating specific "safe harbors" for various payment and business practices that, while potentially prohibited by the law, would not be prosecuted.
The Office of Inspector General has previously published 13 regulatory safe harbors, 11 in 1991 and two in 1992. A new final rule scheduled for publication in the Nov. 19, 1999, Federal Register will establish eight new safe-harbor provisions and clarify six of the original 11 safe harbors published in 1991. These proposals were published in the Federal Register in 1993 and 1994 and have been significantly modified in response to voluminous public comments. Additionally, an interim final rule establishing a safe harbor for shared-risk arrangements is scheduled for publication in the Nov. 19, 1999, Federal Register. After publication of the two new rules, there will be a total of 23 anti-kickback safe harbors consolidated in the Code of Federal Regulations in 21 subparagraphs.
選擇“Disable on www.wenxuecity.com”
選擇“don't run on pages on this domain”
