Public Workshop on ACOs to be Held Oct. 5
Listening session, hosted by FTC, CMS and OIG, is open to all.
Guest commentary from Peter Rich, partner in the health advisory practice group of global law firm McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Physicians, physician associations, hospitals, health systems and consumers should consider participating in a listening session that is part of a workshop on accountable care organizations (ACOs), to be hosted on Oct. 5, 2010, by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health & Human Services.
Registration for the workshop filled immediately after being announced, but the afternoon listening session is open to all. The workshop will cover various legal issues related to ACOs, including antitrust, physician self-referral, anti-kickback and civil monetary penalty laws. Interested parties may participate via teleconference and Web conference; log-in details will be posted on the CMS Web site prior to the workshop.
In particular, the FTC, CMS and OIG wish to receive industry feedback on the following issues:
- How various ACO structures in different health care markets could affect the cost and quality of health care delivered to privately insured consumers and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
- Whether (and if so, how) the requirements of the antitrust, physician self-referral, anti-kickback and civil monetary penalty laws should be addressed in the regulations under development for the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
- To what extent, if at all, any safe harbors, exceptions, exemptions or waivers from the aforementioned laws may be warranted.
Sessions will explore how ACOs will interact with the physician self-referral prohibition, the anti-kickback statute and the civil monetary penalty law, in order to better inform the decision-making of CMS and OIG regarding the application of these laws to ACOs. Attendees will be permitted to briefly comment on the topics discussed.
Participants wishing to make a statement during the listening session are encouraged to submit comments in advance to acolegalissues@cms.hhs.gov, or by mail to the following address:
Attn: ACO Legal Issues
Mail Stop C5-15-12
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
7500 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850
Mr. Rich routinely advises hospitals, medical groups, health insurers, as well as other health industry clients, in negotiating and structuring managed care, and on a wide variety of other health industry transactions and health regulatory matters. For questions regarding ACOs or more information, contact him at jprich@mwe.com.