Stark/Self-Referral
In 1980, the US Congress adopted the first self-referral provision by limiting the ability of a physician to certify a plan of care for a patient to receive services from a home health agency in/with which the physician had a significant ownership interest or financial/contractual relationship. Over the years, this concept has significantly expanded as additional provisions have been adopted by the Federal government by limiting the ability of physicians to refer patients to a health care entity for the provision of certain services if the physician (or an immediate family member of the physician) has either an ownership interest in or a compensation arrangement with such health care entity. This Federal law is commonly referred to as the "Stark Law" or the "Physician Self-Referral Law." Physician financial relationships also have attracted the attention of state legislators and regulators as numerous states have adopted similar laws and regulations.
The rules governing the Stark Law continue to evolve as new regulations are promulgated, new cases are tested in the courts, and new government settlements take place. All of these activities require ongoing reviews of new and existing contractual and financial relationships among health care entities and physicians. York Legal Group has extensive experience counseling clients with regard to the application of the Stark Law and similar state laws to a myriad of transactions and financial relationships encountered in today's health care industry.
Our attorneys are familiar with and provide legal counsel to clients on, the Stark Law’s application to: ownership in hospitals, support agreements among components of an academic medical center, ancillary services being furnished by a physician’s office, the array of compensation arrangements that physicians commonly enter into, the sale of a physician practice, ownership in rural entities, as well as the law’s application to managed care arrangements.
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