AHA comments on proposed changes to anti-kickback, CMP safe harbors

By proposing a new safe harbor for patient engagement tools and creating three new safe harbors for value-based arrangements, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General has taken “the first steps toward much needed reform” of the federal anti-kickback statute and civil monetary penalty rules regarding beneficiary inducements, AHA told the agency in comments submitted today. While aspects of the rule provide a “crucial foundation” for transformation in health care, AHA said OIG “can — and should — do more to remove the barriers presented by outdated AKS rules and open the way to a value-based system. The most pressing improvement needed in the final rule is to create a robust safe harbor for non-risk value-based arrangements, modeled on [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’] proposed exception for the same type of arrangements.” In finalizing the rule, OIG should “adapt its proposed safe harbors to protect a broader universe of the innovative, value-based arrangements made possible by the CMS exceptions,” the association said.