U.S. ex rel. Bartlett v. Ashcroft (Summary)

STARK LAW/ANTI-KICKBACK STATUTE

U.S. ex rel. Bartlett v. Ashcroft, No. 3:04-57 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 21, 2014)

The United States District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania granted in part and denied in part a motion for summary judgment filed by two former employees in their lawsuit against the physician-owners of a CT scanning facility. The employees alleged that these physicians violated federal law by making prohibited patient referrals to a hospital. According to the employees, the hospital was paying $410 per CT scan in order to induce patient referrals.

Certain types of patient referral schemes are prohibited by the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law, and healthcare providers are often required to certify compliance with these laws as part of their Medicare billing. Some jurisdictions hold that falsely certifying compliance with these laws can cause healthcare providers to become liable under the False Claims Act for every bill they submit to Medicare. In this case, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the employees on their claim that the CT scan payments violated the Stark Law. The court denied the employees’ motion for summary judgment regarding violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act. The court held that genuine disputes of material facts remained regarding these laws, and that they would need to be heard at trial.