The Implications of COVID-19 for Hospitals and Physicians: American Hospital Association Recommends Suspension of Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to suspend all Stark laws and anti-kickback laws that might prohibit transactions between hospitals, physicians, and other referral sources involving delivery of necessary services or supplies in response to the COVID-19 public health crisis. The AHA statement notes that frontline providers “need to be able to engage in a wide array of transactions – from barter to short-term contracts and leases – without worrying about the niceties of complying with the technical requirements of a particular Stark Law exception or an Anti-Kickback Statute safe harbor.” Accordingly, the AHA has urged CMS, OIG, and DOJ to “take immediate steps to eliminate that worry.”

For more information about current regulatory and sub-regulatory guidance issued by federal and state agencies, contact Barry Liss, Co-Leader of the Gibbons Healthcare Team.

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