The Anti-Kickback Statute: Year in Review

The AKS is currently the focus of law enforcement officials. The Statute provides that the offer or payment, as well as the solicitation or receipt, of “any remuneration” in exchange for referrals of any good, facility, service, or item for which payment may be made in whole or in part under Medicare/Medicaid, is prohibited.

Recent cases and/or enforcement actions involving the AKS, the violation of which has been held to be the basis of an action under the Federal False Claims Act, (“FCA”) raise serious concerns regarding compliance issues with hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare entities. Recoveries under the FCA are at an all-time high, and the percentage of actions involving healthcare organizations has been increasing at exponential rates.

• Provide attendees with an understanding of the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.
• Provide a perspective of how the courts and the Inspector General’s (OIG) office view compliance with the AKS.
• Discuss recent enforcement actions taken by the OIG and its law enforcement partners.
• Show how the courts deal with violations of the AKS.

• The Anti-Kickback Statute
• The Anti-Kickback Safe Harbors
• OIG Advisory Opinions
• Enforcement Actions taken by OIG and its law enforcement partners.
• Pertinent Caselaw

This program is designed for healthcare executives, physicians, and other healthcare providers and their managers who participate in and receive remuneration from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs such as TriCare.

Several recent cases bring home the realization that many activities that are common in other industries are crimes under federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws.
 
Hospital executives, as well as physicians and/or other healthcare providers, should be very concerned about the potential
for the government to use the Anti-Kickback Statute as one of the prime methods for enforcing federal fraud and abuse laws. Equally concerning, along with Stark II (the federal physician anti-referral law), the Anti-Kickback Statute can be and is being used as the basis for an action brought under the Federal False Claims Act. In this webinar, you will learn about the elements of the Anti-Kickback Statute, along with the various exceptions and safe harbors that you can rely on for protection against enforcement under these laws. This is important because healthcare fraud and abuse if becoming the focus of these enforcement efforts.

• Hospital executives, particularly CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CNOs, and CMOs,
• Physicians,
• Physician practice managers, and
• Other healthcare provider executives.

William Mack Copeland, MS, JD, PhD, LFACHE, practices health care law in Cincinnati at the firm of Copeland Law, LLC, where he is president and CEO. He is also president of Executive & Managerial Development Group, a consulting entity providing compliance and other fraud and abuse related services. A graduate of Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Bill is a frequent author and speaker on health law topics. He is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, American, Ohio and Cincinnati Bar Associations. A former hospital chief executive officer, he is a life fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He was awarded the American College of Health Care Executives Senior-Level Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award in 2007.