The Anti-Kickback Statute: 2024 - Year in Review

This webinar will focus on cases and enforcement actions taken by the HHS OIG and its law enforcement partners in 2024. 

We will also briefly review the Anti-Kickback Statute ("AKS"), discuss safe harbors, particularly the new proposed safe harbor for coordinated care and associated value-based arrangements, and OIG Advisory Opinions that have been issued in 2024, as well as pertinent cases involving the AKS.

This program is designed for healthcare executives, physicians and other health care providers and their managers who participate in and receive remuneration from Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs such as TriCare. Several recent cases bring home the realization that many activities that are common in other industries are crimes under federal healthcare fraud and abuse laws.

Hospital executives, as well as physicians and/or other health care providers, should be very concerned about the potential for the government to use the Anti-Kickback Statute as one of the prime methods for enforcing federal fraud and abuse laws. Equally concerning, along with Stark II (the federal physician anti-referral law), the Anti-Kickback Statute can be and is being used as the basis for an action brought under the Federal False Claims Act. In this webinar, you will learn about the elements of the Anti-Kickback Statute, along with the various exceptions and safe harbors that you can rely on for protection against enforcement under these laws. This is important because healthcare fraud and abuse if becoming the focus of these enforcement efforts.

• The Anti-Kickback Statute
• The Anti-Kickback Safe Harbors
• OIG Advisory Opinions
• Enforcement Actions taken by OIG and its law enforcement partners
• Pertinent Caselaw

Enacted as part of the Social Security Amendments in 1972, the Anti-Kickback Statute is designed to prevent corruption in the healthcare system. The law recognizes that kickbacks can lead to overutilization, increased program costs, corruption of medical decision-making, patient steering, and unfair competition. Violations of the AKS can result in significant penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs.