The Stark Law and Federal Anti-Kickback Laws
What is “Stark”? The Stark Act is an amendment to the Social Security Act prohibiting physicians from engaging in a “self referral” when referring patients elsewhere for certain services. Stark prohibits physicians from referring their patients to other entities for designated health services (“DHS”) payable by Medicare when the physician or an immediate family member of the physician has a...Read More
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CMS Modifies Stark Again. Implications Abound for Physicians
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently released updates of its third phase of final regulations to the federal physician self-referral law (the “Stark Law”). The third phase of final regulations is appropriately titled “Stark III.” Stark III clarifies, and in some cases substantially revises, various concepts, definitions, and exceptions to the Stark Law. As a result,...Read More
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Final Piece of the Stark Law Falls into Place
The final “Phase III” regulations promulgated under the federal physician self-referral prohibition known as the Stark Law became effective December 4, 2007. Several years in the making, Phase III addresses and modifies portions of larger Stark regulatory scheme, namely Phases I and II, which took effect in 2002 and 2004. Stark prohibits a physician from referring Medicare patients for certain...Read More
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