Department of Justice Enters Into Record-Breaking Stark Law Settlement
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and a handful of states, recently reached a settlement agreement with Adventist Health System (Adventist), resolving Stark Law issues, as well as allegations in two separate qui tam actions that included false claims. Generally speaking, the Stark Law limits physician referrals of designated health services or “DHS” for Medicare and Medicaid patients in instances where the physician - or an immediate family member of the physician - has a financial relationship with the DHS entity.
The Adventist settlement is for a record breaking $115 million. Adventist, which operates 44 hospitals throughout 10 states, will also pay a total of $3.7 million to Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The announcement came just a week after the DOJ’s $69.5 million settlement with South Florida-based Broward Health in mid-September (based on allegations of upcoding and paying excessive compensation to a physician).
The allegations against Adventist included that compensation paid to physicians, mid-level practitioners, and physician assistants was above fair market value, and that this excess compensation was paid for part-time or non-productive work. In addition, the complaints alleged that physicians received perks, such as car payments, private office staff, equipment, and supplies without charge, and that Adventist tolerated known upcoding and overbilling by employees and contracted physicians.
Adventist did not admit any liability, nor was it required to enter into a Corporate Integrity Agreement, as part of the settlement.
It is too early to tell whether the recent flurry of Stark Law settlements is a coincidence or a trend signaling an uptick in Stark Law enforcement by the DOJ. Moreover, these settlements are much larger than past Stark law self-disclosure settlements. It is not clear if settlement amounts will continue to climb (even for technical violations) or if the mega settlements will be limited to cases where it appears that physicians were paid in excess of fair market value. Regardless, given the significant potential liability for violations of the law’s requirements, hospitals and health systems should be carefully scrutinizing all their financial arrangements with physicians. Foster Swift’s Health Care attorneys can assist in determining Stark compliance of any proposed transaction with physicians. For more information, please contact Gary J. McRay at gmcray@fosterswift.com or Nicole E. Stratton at nstratton@fosterswift.com.
Categories: Billing/Payment, Medicare/Medicaid, News & Events, Physicians
Categories
- Hospitals
- Long-Term Care
- Retirement
- 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
- Insurance
- Cybersecurity
- Billing/Payment
- Providers
- Criminal
- Digital Assets
- Medicare
- HITECH Act
- Audits
- Electronic Health Records
- Affordable Care Act
- Physicians
- Regulatory
- Patents
- Tax
- Accountable Care Organizations
- Labor Relations
- Compliance
- Hospice
- Department of Labor
- News & Events
- Health Insurance Exchange
- Alerts and Updates
- Pharmacy
- HIPAA
- Privacy
- Workers' Compensation
- Medicare/Medicaid
- Technology
- Fraud & Abuse
- Licensing
- News
- Legislative Updates
- Regulations
- Medicaid Planning
- COVID-19 and Workers' Compensation
- Employment
- Contracts
- Employee Benefits
- Did you Know?
- Lawsuit
- Health Care Reform
Best Lawyers® 2021
Congratulations to the attorneys of the Health Care practice group at Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC for their inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America 2021 edition. Firm-wide, 44 lawyers were listed. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation and as lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Health Care practice group members listed in Best Lawyers are as follows:
- Jennifer B. Van Regenmorter, Holland
To see the full list of Foster Swift attorneys listed in Best Lawyers 2021, click here.