New Anti-Kickback Law 'Safe Harbors' Proposed

Within the dense and complex Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) are significant provisions that are intended to incentivize health care providers to furnish better quality care at lower costs, and conversely, to penalize providers for poor-quality care or care that was not medically necessary. The problems of poor-quality or unnecessary care were caused, in part, by the fee-for-service payment system that was in effect for generations. The fee-for-service model unfortunately offered the wrong incentives to dishonest or poor-quality providers to maximize revenue by maximizing services regardless of the quality or the medical necessity of the services provided.