"Drafting Perils and Pitfalls: How Stark has Changed the Risk Calculus," Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law 13th Annual Conference, American Bar Association, San Diego

With the ever-increasing emphasis on compliance and new understanding of CMS’ interpretation of the Stark Law coming out of the self-disclosure protocol, health lawyers should reconsider the wisdom of direct contractual obligations, penalty clauses, cost of living adjustments, evergreen provisions and complex compensation or expense formulae when creating contractual relationships -- what used to be a “best practice” may now be a trap for the unwary.

Questions addressed included:

• What are the pros and cons of direct versus indirect financial relationships?
• How to balance complexity versus practicality?
• When should you sacrifice precision for ease of implementation?
• Are evergreen clauses a good or bad idea?
• Are the six-month holdover provision and temporary noncompliance exception enough to save an arrangement?
• Late fees and other penalties – are they worth it?