Council for Urological Interests v. Burwell – June 2015 (Summary)

STARK LAW

Council for Urological Interests v. Burwell, No. 13-5235 (D.C. Cir. June 12, 2015)

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit called into question the current prohibition of “per-click” leases under federal regulations implementing the Stark law. The court noted that the per-click ban may be inconsistent with Congressional intent as expressed in the legislative history of the Stark law, and directed that the matter be remanded to the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”). HHS will be required to reevaluate whether the per-click ban is consistent with Congressional intent.

In contrast, the court approved HHS’s definition of an “entity furnishing designated health services.” Under the current definition, an entity that either performs or bills for designated health services is considered to be “furnishing” such services. The court found this to be a permissible construction of the statute, and noted that this definition closes “a loophole otherwise available to physician-owned entities that would allow circumvention of the purpose of the Stark Law merely by having the hospital bill Medicare for the services.”