When negotiating physician compensation issues, hospitals frequently rely upon the premise they must pay fair market value compensation in order to comply with the provisions of the Stark Act prohibiting referrals in exchange...more
Daniel Schulte discusses why dentists should not incentivize patient referrals in The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association (November 2023). Question: I would like to add a referral incentive program to attract new...more
Recent case law has highlighted various challenges in structuring payment provisions for referral arrangements, such as introduction, intermediary, brokerage and ‘finder’s fee’ agreements. Together, these provide useful...more
A common question in the context of Medicare Advantage (“MA”) distribution and compensation is how agents and brokers may be compensated for commissions and administrative payments and whether, and to what extent, referral...more
Welcome to Wiley’s update on recent developments and what’s next in consumer protection at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In this newsletter, we analyze recent regulatory...more
CFPB Advises Manipulating Search Results on Comparison-Shopping Platforms May Violate RESPA - On February 7, the CFPB issued an advisory opinion, accompanied by a statement from CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, clarifying that...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has moved to curb digital mortgage comparison-shopping platforms from receiving referral fees, issuing an advisory opinion that outlines how companies violate the Real Estate...more
Referral fees, or fee sharing, among attorneys have become so commonplace that it may be easy to forget about the headache that they can cause to attorneys and clients alike. Our focus today is on the potential consequences...more
The Nutter Securities Enforcement Update is a periodic summary of noteworthy recent securities enforcement activity, settlements, decisions, and charges. ...more
In a significant action, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has abruptly rescinded a 2015 compliance bulletin concerning marketing services agreements (MSAs) while also issuing RESPA Section 8 (referral fee...more
The CFPB recently issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) addressing the referral fee and fee splitting prohibitions under Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The CFPB also rescinded its...more
The Washington State Department of Revenue (the “Department”) recently announced its interpretation of the Washington Court of Appeals’ March 30, 2020, adverse ruling in LendingTree, LLC v. Dep’t of Revenue, no. 80637-8-I...more
In Advisory Opinion 20-03, published July 1, 2020, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) approved an arrangement in which a discount medical plan organization (DMPO) that receives annual membership fees from its members also...more
Q: I am a receiver in a Ponzi scheme case. While I know I can sue to recover excess payments made to investors in the scheme, the false profit they were paid, per Donell v. Kowell, 533 F3d 762 (9th Cir. 2008), in my case...more
The Ninth Circuit recently issued an unpublished decision in Hoffman v. Markowitz, Case No. 17-56290 (C.D. Cal., Dec. 24, 2018), holding that referral fees paid from a Ponzi scheme are subject to avoidance under the...more
Faced with various compliance issues related to the ‘cash solicitation rule’, the Staff issued a risk alert to inform market participants and help advisers update their policies accordingly....more
Maybe I’m like Larry David, but I have a lot of pet peeves. I hate when people whistle or sing in public. I hate when people talk on their cell phone in line. I also don’t deal well with working with, working for, and being...more
A federal district court in Kentucky recently handed the CFPB its second defeat in the agency’s lawsuit against Borders & Borders PLC and the law firm’s principals by denying the CFPB’s motion for reconsideration. ...more
Physician employment arrangements with hospitals have remained a significant area of regulatory scrutiny in recent months with the announcement of several high profile settlements and decisions in key FCA cases involving...more
The potentially explosive combination of the D.C. Circuit’s October decision in PHH v. CFPB and the outcome of the presidential election has spurred a host of questions about how the PHH litigation may proceed and about the...more
In September 2016, three corporate officers in two healthcare fraud and abuse cases settled allegations that they were personally liable for violations of federal fraud and abuse laws. These settlements come one year after...more
D.C. Circuit Delivers First Blow to CFPB, Trump Win Delivers Second - The future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is up for grabs following a landmark Court of Appeals Decision, PHH Corporation v....more
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its much-anticipated decision in PHH Corp. v. CFPB, No. 15-1177 (D.C. Cir., Oct. 11, 2016). In its 110-page decision, the three-judge panel deemed the Consumer...more
During the “Developments at the CFPB” panel this morning at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute Consumer Financial Services & Banking Law Update program in Philadelphia, Jeffrey Ehrlich, the CFPB’s Deputy Enforcement Director,...more
In its decision last week in PHH Corporation v. CFPB, the D.C. Circuit ruled that the CFPB’s single-director-removable-only-for-cause structure is unconstitutional. While the D.C. Circuit (in footnote 19) noted that it “need...more