OIG Issues Unfavorable Advisory Opinion for Home Care Agency’s Employee Sign-On Bonus
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued Advisory Opinion 25-12.  This Opinion looks at a home care agency’s proposal to offer (and state in marketing materials that they offer) a sign-on bonus to prospective employees.  These bona fide employees would be “attendants” who would provide various home care services primarily to their own family members.  These attendant employees would also likely be the ones who would ultimately choose a home care agency on behalf of those family members.  The OIG raised a number of concerns with this proposal, including steering, unfair competition, and quality of care concerns.  The OIG also determined that no exception or safe harbor for employees could protect the proposal, and that the risk of fraud and abuse under this proposal was not sufficiently low such that the OIG could issue a favorable opinion.  As such, the OIG concluded that this proposal would result in a prohibited offer of remuneration under both the federal anti-kickback and the prohibition on beneficiary inducements statutes, which would constitute grounds for the imposition of sanctions under both statutes.

HRSA Seeks Comments on 340B Program Information Collection
The Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) is looking to improve its oversight of the 340B drug pricing program by proposing new information collection requirements and revising several of the forms that it uses to register and recertify covered entities that participate in the program.  HRSA is now seeking public comments on: (i) the necessity and utility of this proposed information collection; (ii) ways to improve the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; (iii) the accuracy of the estimated time burden imposed by the proposed information collection; and (iv) ways to minimize the burden of information collection through the use of automated and other information technology.  Public comments must be submitted no later than February 9, 2026.

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