HHS' Office of the Inspector General and CMS have announced waivers to the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law for Medicare Shared Savings Program accountable care organizations will be extended through Nov. 2, 2015.
On Nov. 2, 2011, CMS and the OIG jointly published an interim final rule with comment period that established waivers of the applications of Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute and certain civil monetary penalties to ACOs participating in the Shared Savings Program. The waivers were set to expire next month, according to the interim final rule.
If the waivers were allowed to expire, the interim final rule said there would have been "legal uncertainty for ACOs participating in the Shared Savings Program," and ACOs' business plans and operations may have been disrupted.
Extending the waivers for the ACOs supports the agencies' goal, which is "to balance effectively the need for ACO certainty, innovation, and flexibility in the Shared Savings Program with protections for beneficiaries and the Medicare program."
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