April 4, 2020
In our most recent COVID-19 guidance which can be found
here
, we outlined the blanket Stark Law waivers recently issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It is worth noting that the Office of Inspector General (the “OIG”) has not issued similar Anti Kickback Statute waivers. However, on March 30, 2020, the OIG issued a
letter
which emphasizes the OIG’s stance that the health care industry should be provided flexibility to deliver patient care during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The OIG encourages health care organizations that need extensions to OIG deadlines, such as to produce data for an OIG review or to comply with a Corporate Integrity Agreement, to ask the appropriate OIG contact. While the OIG is providing increased flexibility for health care organizations, the OIG warns that it is aggressively investigating bad actors that are exploiting the COVID-19 crisis by stealing patients’ personal information and offering fake testing kits and unapproved therapies. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the OIG will carefully consider the context and intent of parties that may be subject to OIG administrative enforcement when determining whether to proceed with enforcement action. Further, due to a majority of the OIG workforce teleworking, OIG encourages electronic submission of materials that would ordinarily require mailing.
The OIG has dedicated a
Portal
with up-to-date COVID-19 related work, where health care providers can submit questions. Future FAQs from the OIG may be published on the Portal. We are available to assist in submitting inquiries to the OIG’s Office of Counsel through the Portal as needed to address your needs.
