HHS-OIG Declines Sanctions on One-Time, Voluntary Redemption Option for Physician Owners at Retirement Age
Highlights
HHS-OIG released a favorable opinion on a voluntary redemption option offered to physician owners in a hospital partnership
The agency noted that objective criterion (age) triggering the buy-out was unrelated to the volume or value of referrals or other business generated by the physician and unlikely to alter referral patterns
The agency determined there was little risk for fraud and abuse
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) released Advisory Opinion No. 23-12, a favorable opinion regarding a proposed arrangement by which physician owners of a hospital limited liability partnership would receive a one-time, voluntary redemption offer upon reaching age 67, allowing them to have their ownership interest redeemed by the partnership over two years, contingent upon their agreement to retire from the practice of medicine. Despite implicating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), the agency determined it would not impose sanctions.
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