Anti-Kickback Statute Compliance in Healthcare Transactions

This CLE course will provide guidance to healthcare counsel on the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) provisions and regulatory safe harbors. The panel will provide guidance on how to determine when the AKS is implicated and what counsel can do to identify potential AKS problems. The panel will also offer best practices for structuring arrangements to minimize risk under the AKS.

The federal government continues its focus on reigning in healthcare fraud, including ensuring compliance with the AKS. The AKS provides several safe harbors and exceptions that shield healthcare providers from the prohibitions outlined by the AKS. Unlike the Stark Law exceptions wherein the government will deem a practice per se illegal, if a payment practice does not fully satisfy any of the AKS safe harbors, then the government will analyze the payment practice to determine whether it is compliant with AKS.

AKS violations carry significant penalties, including civil monetary penalties, imprisonment, and exclusion from participating in federal healthcare programs such as Medicare. Healthcare counsel must keep in mind the requirements of the AKS and its safe harbors and exceptions in healthcare contracting and transactions. The scope of the AKS is very broad and counsel must be vigilant in evaluating whether business practices could result in AKS violations.

Listen as our authoritative panel of health law counsel discusses the AKS provisions and safe harbors. The panel will discuss which healthcare transactions may implicate the AKS and examine common pitfalls related to AKS compliance. The panel will also discuss identifying potential AKS problems and offer best practices for responding to them.