The recent settlement in the Citizens Medical Center case highlights fair market value (“FMV”) concerns in Stark cases, and particularly a trend to consider operating losses in hospital-owned practices. The case involved various physician relationships of Citizens Medical Center, a 344-bed acute care county hospital in Victoria, Texas. Like most […]
Health Law Alert
Proposed New Stark Exceptions May Particularly Benefit Rural Providers
on Friday, 7 August 2015 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On July 15, 2015, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) signaled its intent to implement two new exceptions to the Ethics in Patient Referral Act (“Stark”) and ease a number of other compliance burdens. These are proposed rules and rule changes; final versions will likely be published in […]
Supreme Court Finds Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act Does Not Toll the False Claims Act Statute of Limitations
on Friday, 24 July 2015 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On May 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided Kellogg, Brown & Root Services, Inc. et al. v. U.S. ex rel. Carter. Even though this case did not involve a health care provider or the provision of health care services, the decision is one of significant impact for the […]
OIG Fraud Alert – Both Hospitals and Physicians Should Examine Compensation Arrangements
on Friday, 17 July 2015 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On June 9, 2015, the OIG issued a Fraud Alert addressing physician compensation arrangements. While brief, the Fraud Alert provides an important reminder that financial arrangements between physicians and providers are targets of the OIG’s enforcement efforts. The Fraud Alert is clearly intended to emphasize that, in addition to hospitals, […]
Lucrative Kickback Scheme Earns Hospital Administrators Decades Long Prison Sentences
on Friday, 10 July 2015 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
Twelve Presidential elections will have come and gone if Earnest Gibson III, a longtime hospital CEO, serves his entire prison sentence for violations of the Medicare anti-kickback statute. Gibson III, the longtime CEO of Houston-based Riverside General Hospital, was sentenced in June 2015 by the United States District Court for […]
