Health Care Enforcement & Investigations

On December 19, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued a private letter ruling (the “Ruling”) allowing corporations that manage physician practices through a so-called “friendly physician” arrangement to treat the physician practices as members of the corporations’ consolidated tax group for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Important dates for the ACA:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published long-awaited changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).

Fridays never seem to be slow in the health care regulatory world. On Friday, October 3rd, the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a highly anticipated proposed rule (the Proposed Rule) that provides amendments to the Anti-Kickback Statute’s regulatory safe harbors (AKS Safe Harbors) and adds protections for increasingly common payment practices and business arrangements under the Civil Monetary Penalty Law (CMP).

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice, Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and other federal and state agencies continued to aggressively prosecute health care fraud and related offenses through criminal, civil, and parallel proceedings.

A recent federal appeals court decision addressing pleading standards for shareholder suits under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, highlights the potential dangers of giving broad assurances of legal compliance in registration statements.

Trends in health care enforcement during 2012 have been significant in reinforcing the government’s fraud investigation and recovery strategies. Health care fraud enforcement will likely intensify in the post-health reform era.