Donations to Patient Assistance Charities
On August 20, 2024, OIG issued Advisory Opinion No. 24-07 in which it responded to a request for an advisory opinion regarding a nonprofit grant-making organization’s (Requestor) proposal to fund a patient assistance program...more
Healthcare compliance risks exist even when a company takes steps to structure its business activities to follow the government's own statements. A recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of...more
Patient assistance programs (PAPs) that seek to subsidize patient co-payments for drugs covered by Medicare may involve compliance challenges. A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector...more
On October 5, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published Advisory Opinion No. 22-19, finding that a proposal by an entity funded entirely by manufacturers of oncology...more
The Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued Advisory Opinion 22-08 (the “Advisory Opinion”), concluding that the provision of limited use smartphones by a federally qualified health center (“FQHC”) to...more
In Advisory Opinion 20-02, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) approved certain lodging and travel assistance offered by a pharmaceutical manufacturer to patients being administered a drug manufactured by the pharmaceutical...more
On January 21, 2020, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion 20-02, approving an arrangement under which a pharmaceutical manufacturer provides...more
On March 6, 2019, the Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) published a new advisory opinion, No. 19-03 (the “AO”), addressing a proposed arrangement to provide free post-discharge...more
Last week, the federal HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) gave the greenlight to allow a virtual care company and pharmaceutical manufacturer to loan patients free smartphones, so the patients (which include Medicare...more
Can a pharmaceutical manufacturer provide free items or services to financially needy Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries without running afoul of the Beneficiary Inducements Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) or the Anti-Kickback...more
Last week, the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued a favorable Advisory Opinion regarding a proposal by a pharmaceutical manufacturer (Manufacturer) to loan a...more
On January 24, 2019, OIG issued Advisory Opinion No. 19-02, analyzing a proposed arrangement in which a pharmaceutical manufacturer would loan smartphones to patients who meet certain poverty level requirements in order to...more
On Jan. 29, 2019, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), in Advisory Opinion 19-2, issued its first opinion on the new "promotes access to care" exception to the beneficiary inducement Civil Monetary Penalties (CMP) law and...more
On January 29, the Health and Human Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) released new guidance that sheds further light on the types of patient assistance that may be provided under the “Promotes Access to Care”...more
On Jan. 4, 2018, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an open letter containing guidance regarding the provision of certain free drugs to federal healthcare program beneficiaries. Specifically, the OIG stated that...more
On November 28, 2017, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) rescinded advisory opinion 06-04, in which it had previously determined that a charity’s (Requestor) proposal to provide assistance to financially needy Medicare...more
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (the OIG), on November 28, 2017, issued a Rescission Letter terminating Advisory Opinion Number 06-04 (Advisory Opinion 06-04). In Advisory Opinion...more
On November 13, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued Advisory Opinion 15-14. The Arrangement at issue is a charitable program designed to assist financially needy...more
On December 28, 2015, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) approved another patient assistance program in Advisory Opinion 15-16. The OIG analyzed contributions to a private charitable organization under the anti-kickback...more
On December 28, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued OIG Advisory Opinion 15-17, approving a charity’s proposal to unveil a new patient assistance program dedicated to...more
On December 7, 2015, OIG posted a modification adding additional strictures to a prior favorable Advisory Opinion (No. 07-11) regarding a charity’s operation of a patient assistance program (PAP) to provide financial...more
On May 28, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an advisory opinion approving a charitable organization’s proposal to provide financial assistance to individuals with...more