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Will a decades-long prohibition on physician referrals and ownership get the ax?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Home care and other medical care providers have lived with Stark Law restrictions since the 1990s, but don\u2019t assume they will last forever.<\/p>\n American Hospital Association\u00a0<\/strong>President and CEO\u00a0Rick Pollack\u00a0<\/strong>had\u00a0Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services\u00a0<\/strong>Administrator\u00a0Seema Verma\u00a0<\/strong>on an AHA town hall webcast in late January, where they discussed regulations in health care and moving toward a value-based payment system.<\/p>\n During the webcast, Verma acknowledged what hospitals and other healthcare entities consider challenges with Stark Law regulations, according to an AHA news release. \u201cI think the Stark Law was developed a long time ago, and given where we\u2019re going in terms of modernizing [Medicare] and the payment systems we are now operating under … we need to bring along some of those regulations,\u201d Verma said.<\/p>\n Verma added that Congress might have to act to provide full relief from the Stark Law, according to the AHA.<\/p>\n In the meantime, of course, providers still must abide by Stark Law regulations. Parts of the Stark Law were enacted in 1989, but in its current form, home health services, durable medical equipment, physical therapy services, parenteral and enteral nutrition, equipment, and supplies, and more are considered designated health services.<\/p>\n Reminder:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>According to CMS\u2019s website on Physician Self-Referral, the Stark Law:<\/p>\n 1. Prohibits a physician from making referrals for certain designated health services (DHS) payable by Medicare to an entity with which he or she (or an immediate family member) has a financial relationship (ownership, investment, or compensation), unless an exception applies.<\/p>\n 2. Prohibits the entity from presenting or causing to be presented claims to Medicare (or billing another individual, entity, or third-party payer) for those referred services.<\/p>\n 3. Establishes a number of specific exceptions and grants the Secretary the authority to create regulatory exceptions for financial relationships that do not pose a risk of program or patient abuse.<\/p>\n Note: Watch the AHA webcast at\u00a0http:\/\/windrosemedia.com\/windstream\/aha\/011718\/<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Source- SuperCoder<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"