The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently issued six advisory opinions concerning gainsharing arrangements. Although these opinions suggest that the OIG will not challenge properly structured arrangements, this should not be interpreted as a green light for all gainsharing programs.

When creating gainsharing arrangements, hospitals and physicians and their attorneys should consider the OIG's recent interpretations as well as how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the IRS might respond as enforcers of Stark II and tax laws.

Listen as our authoritative panelists help you understand and overcome the obstacles relating to gainsharing arrangements:

• John R. Washlick, with Cozen O’Connor in Philadelphia practices in the Health Law group and directs the firm’s HIPAA and corporate compliance practice. John chairs the Hospitals and Health Systems Practice Group of the American Health Lawyers Association.

• Andrew Demetriou, partner Fulbright & Jaworski, Los Angeles, represents public and privately held companies including managed care companies and institutional providers of health care products and services, physician organizations and management enterprises. He serves as Secretary of the Health Law Section for the American Bar Association.

• Mark Schieble, a partner in the San Francisco office of Foley & Lardner, is a member of the firm's Taxation and Health Care Finance and Restructuring practice groups. His practice focuses on both nonprofit and for-profit tax law, and he represents healthcare providers in a wide variety of transactional and operational business matters.

They will offer their insights on these and other key questions:

• Where does the OIG stand on the gainsharing issue?
• What does the OIG require for a program to be properly structured?
• What is the impact of the Stark law on gainsharing arrangements?
• How do the obligations of tax-exempt organizations impact the organization’s ability to participate in gainsharing arrangements?