Get Ready for Increase in Civil monetary penalties; Stakes Are Raised for Compliance

Civil monetary penalties (CMPs) of all kinds are now higher, considerably in some cases, according to an HHS interim final rule published in the Federal Register Sept. 6. The CMPs are being updated for inflation as required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 after no movement for almost 20 years. The update affects dozens of CMPs levied by CMS, the HHS Office of Inspector General, the Office for Civil Rights, FDA, the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; some will come as a shock to providers. According to the regulation, the CMPs apply only to violations that happened after Nov. 2, 2015, the date of enactment of the 2015 amendments, and are assessed after Aug. 1, 2016. Because they are long overdue, HHS said it opted for an interim final rule without prior notice and comment. Here are a few of the CMP increases;  the penalty for submitting or causing to be submitted claims in violation of the Stark Law rises from $15,000 to $23,863, the penalty for knowingly presenting or causing to be presented a false claim increases from $10,000 to $15,024 and the penalty for knowing and willful solicitation, receipt, offer, or payment of remuneration for referring a person for a service or for buying, leasing, or ordering an item to be covered by a federal health care program will increase from $50,000 to $73,588.

Source: https://aishealth.com