Final Rules from OIG Address Safe Harbors, Civil Monetary Payment

​New safe harbors that protect certain payment practices and business arrangements from anti-kickback sanctions are among the amendments in a final rule issued on December 7, 2016, by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General (OIG). The safe harbors will allow for greater flexibility for providers in making arrangements to provide free or discounted local transportation to patients. The rule also amended civil monetary penalty (CMP) rules by codifying the definition of "remuneration," which OIG said had previously been too broad. Under the previous definition some "relatively innocuous" arrangements were covered by the statute, and thus subjected providers to criminal prosecution.