Stark law news and information

For 20 years, the CMS has not applied the federal ban on physician conflicts of interest known as the Stark law to Medicaid claims. It's focused on Medicare only. But private whistle-blowers have begun pressing for clarity on the issue because a 1993 law applying Stark to Medicaid remains on the...
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Several years ago, Leake Memorial Hospital, a critical-access facility in rural central Mississippi, was on the verge of closing and was looking for a buyer when its officials discovered that the publicly run hospital was sitting on a time bomb.
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The healthcare world is populated by scores of legal experts who strive to keep up with the sprawling compendium of statutes, regulations and legal advisories known collectively as the “Stark law.” But the law's father, Fortney “Pete” Stark, is not one of them.
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Physicians who prepare and examine tissue samples in their own practices rather than using labs report higher use of the services, suggesting that the financial incentives may drive the difference.
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Once again, a critic who says he was reprimanded for confidentially raising concerns about doctors' pay has turned into a whistle-blower for the federal government.
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Cardiologists and the Infirmary Health System in Mobile, Ala., are accused of needlessly exposing patients to radiation in a nine-year-running kickback scheme tainting an estimated $522 million in Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare reimbursements since 2004.
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HHS' inspector general has unveiled a large red button on the Internet that will cost hospitals and drug companies thousands or perhaps millions of dollars if they press it.
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As chief counsel to HHS' inspector general, Greg Demske drives the office's enforcement priorities and decisions. He also leads the office's efforts—in talks, advisory opinions and other industry guidance—to explain where the office comes down on an extremely complicated set of laws...
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Facing a potential penalty of up to $237 million, Tuomey Healthcare System in Sumter, S.C. says it did nothing illegal and is asking a federal judge to throw out a jury verdict that the hospital violated the False Claims Act and the Stark law.
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As healthcare lawyers like to say, there's always some hospital CEO stuck on an airplane when a deal is finalized.
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