Browse Advisory Opinions

Concerning an exclusive contract for emergency medical services and transports between a municipality and an ambulance company. The opinion addresses the aspect of the contract that requires the ambulance company to reimburse the municipality for a portion of the costs of providing emergency dispatch services.

Concerning an arrangement among a county, a county health district, and various municipalities concerning the provision of non-emergency ambulance transportation services by the county health district.

Concerning a clinical laboratory company's proposal to establish a subsidiary that would contract with physician practices to enable the practices to provide laboratory services to the physicians' patients who are not Federal health care program beneficiaries.

Concerning a proposal to establish a limited liability company that would enter into arrangements with manufacturers and other entities to provide industrial orthotics for use by these entities' employees.

Concerning the use of a hospital network as part of a Medicare Supplemental Health Insurance policy.

Regarding an existing arrangement under which a hospital pays a per diem fee to physicians for providing on-call coverage for the hospital's emergency department.

Concerning an arrangement in which a hospital pays a cardiology group compensation that includes a performance bonus based on implementing certain patient service, quality, and cost savings measures associated with procedures performed at the hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratories.

Concerning a Federally qualified health center's proposal to offer grocery store gift cards to certain patients in capitated managed care plans as an incentive to receive health screenings or other clinical services.

Concerning a hospital's proposal to provide free access to an electronic interface to community physicians and physician practices that would allow those physicians and practices to transmit orders for certain services to, and receive the results of those services from, the hospital.

Concerning four proposed arrangements involving a pharmacy company's provision of items and services to community homes in which its customers reside.

Concerning a proposed arrangement whereby three municipalities will reciprocally waive the otherwise applicable cost-sharing obligations of each other's bona fide residents when providing backup emergency medical services transportation to such individuals in certain circumstances.

Concerning a proposal for a hospice to establish a volunteer program to provide non-skilled services to terminally ill patients who do not qualify for hospice care.

Concerning a proposal to waive cost-sharing amounts on a non-routine, unadvertised basis for insured patients, including Federal health care program beneficiaries, based on individualized determinations of financial need.

Concerning a rewards program under which consumers would earn gasoline discounts based on the amount they spend on purchases in retail supermarkets, including cost-sharing amounts paid in connection with items covered by Federal health care programs purchased in the in-store pharmacies.

Concerning a proposal by a hearing aid supplier to begin billing Medicare for certain audiometric testing, while continuing to offer free hearing tests to prospective hearing aid customers.

Concerning a proposed bundle billing arrangement for basic life support advanced life support joint responses.

Concerning an ambulance supplier's proposal to routinely waive cost-sharing amounts for emergency medical services rendered on a part-time basis.

Concerning a proposal by a radiology group to offer free insurance pre-authorization services to physicians and patients.

Concerning reduced-rate arrangements for the provision of therapy services at state-operated veterans' homes.

Concerning a proposal for an independent diagnostic testing facility to hire a doctor to read and interpret test results when that doctor is closely related to the owners of the independent diagnostic testing facility and is employed by a company that also employs other potential referral sources.