The Federal Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute Addressed in OIG’s Open Letter Refining Self-Disclosure Protocol

In an Open Letter to health care providers published March 24, 2009, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) refined its Self-Disclosure Protocol (“SDP”) to resolve matters giving rise to civil monetary penalties (“CMPs”) under the federal Stark law and Anti-Kickback Statute, initially addressed by way of Open Letter dated April 24, 2006.

In order to best allocate its enforcement resources, acknowledging that kickbacks “pose a serious risk to the integrity of the health care system, and deterring kickbacks remains a high priority,” the OIG narrowed the SDP’s scope related to the federal Stark law. Moving forward, the OIG will only accept disclosure of matters involving violations of the Anti-kickback Statute, and will not accept disclosures only involving federal Stark law violations (if the Anti-Kickback Statute is not implicated).

Additionally, following the date of the Open Letter (March 24, 2009), the OIG will require a minimum $50,000 settlement amount to resolve SDP submissions related to the Anti-Kickback Statute.

To access a copy of the Open Letter, please click here. To access a copy of the OIG’s provider self-disclosure protocol, please click here.

For more information regarding the federal Stark law, Anti-Kickback Statute and SDP, please contact Adrienne Dresevic, Esq. or Carey F. Kalmowitz, Esq. at (248) 996-8510, visit The HLP website’s Stark and Anti-Kickback page, or visit The HLP website.