Browse Advisory Opinions

Concerning a proposal for a health care system to provide $10 gift cards to patients whose service expectations were not met.

Concerning a laboratory's proposal to provide services consisting of the labeling of test tubes and specimen collection containers at no cost to dialysis facilities.

Concerning a pharmaceutical company's proposal to place in certain physicians' offices electronic kiosks that offer patients free disease state screening questionnaires.

Concerning a proposal to offer a free trial prescription program to hemophilia A patients who are Federal health care program beneficiaries.

Concerning a proposed arrangement by which a health care system would provide prompt pay discounts to Federal health care program beneficiaries and other insured patients in connection with both inpatient and outpatient care.

Concerning a marketing and research company's proposal to encourage physicians and other health care professionals to complete online surveys by offering them the opportunity to designate a public charity to which the company or one of its clients would make a monetary charitable contribution.

Concerning a non-profit corporation's program that arranges for pharmaceutical manufacturer patient assistance programs to provide donated drugs to free clinics and Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) for use by financially-needy patients who do not have any form of outpatient prescription drug insurance coverage.

Concerning an arrangement in which a hospital has agreed to share with a group of cardiac surgeons a percentage of the hospital's cost savings arising from the surgeons' implementation of a number of cost reduction measures in certain surgical procedures.

Concerning an arrangement in which a hospital has agreed to share with a group of anesthesiologists a percentage of the hospital's cost savings arising from the anesthesiologists' implementation of a number of cost reduction measures related to anesthesia services provided during cardiac surgical procedures.

Concerning an arrangement whereby a radiology group practice prepares written reports of its interpretations of radiology tests for a critical access hospital without charge to the hospital.

Concerning an investment by a physician in an imaging center in a medically underserved area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Concerning a proposal by an excluded individual to license an invention to a new company.

Concerning a home health agency's practice of providing prospective orthopedic patients with free educational videos containing instructions for postoperative home-based convalescence.

Concerning the use of a "preferred hospital" network as part of a Medicare Supplemental Health Insurance ("Medigap") policy.

Concerning the addition of optometrists as owners of three single-specialty ophthalmology ambulatory surgical centers.

Concerning a county's exclusive contracts for emergency ambulance services, which set out how private ambulance companies should absorb the costs of transporting uninsured arrestees and reimburse the county for the costs of providing certain administrative and emergency dispatch services.

Concerning two proposals to accept low or no-cost bids for the provision of therapy services at state-operated veterans' homes.

Concerning the physicians' on-call coverage and uncompensated inpatient care arrangement employed by a medical center.

Concerning a reward program under which certain consumers receive an annual reward based on the amount spent on purchases, including purchases of items covered by Federal health care programs.

Concerning a cash donation to a senior residence program from a charitable foundation which shares ties with the program and with a local health system.