What is the Stark Law?
The Federal Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, prohibits a physician (or an immediate family member of such physician) from referring Medicare patients to entities providing designated health services if that physician, or the physician’s immediate family member, has a financial (ownership, compensation or investment) interest in the entity. A practitioner must follow the Stark regulations if federal healthcare programs reimburse any of the referrals for designated health services. Referrals and claims that violate the Stark statute are each punishable by a $15,000 civil money penalty, any claim paid as the result of an improper referral is an overpayment, and circumvention schemes are punishable by a $100,000 civil money penalty (21).
