Description

Webinars Expert is proud to host an exclusive live expert webinar designed to protect physician practices, healthcare organizations, and compliance teams from the most aggressive Stark Law and Anti-Kickback enforcement environment in U.S. history.

The numbers in 2026 should alarm every practice in the country.

The U.S. Department of Justice recovered a record $6.8 billion under the False Claims Act in 2025, with 1,297 qui tam (whistleblower) lawsuits filed — a clear sign that enforcement, audits, and insider-driven investigations are accelerating, not slowing down. Healthcare fraud accounted for $1.67 billion of those recoveries, and Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute violations remain the single largest predicate for those False Claims Act cases.

Recent settlements speak for themselves:

• Community Health Network — $480 million to settle Stark Law violations for paying physicians above fair market value to capture downstream referrals
• Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Affiliates — $581 million to settle whistleblower lawsuits
• NewYork-Presbyterian and Park Slope Medicine — $17.3 million to resolve Stark Law and FCA allegations
• Steward Health Care — $4.7 million for kickback arrangements

And these are just the headlines. The bigger threat is what's happening to smaller and mid-sized physician practices, where one mistake can trigger devastating consequences:

• Civil penalties up to $15,000 per service under Stark Law
• Up to $100,000 per arrangement for willfully circumventing the law
• Triple damages under the False Claims Act
• Up to 10 years in federal prison and $100,000 per violation under the criminal Anti-Kickback Statute
• Exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid — effectively a death sentence for any practice

Worse still, Stark Law is a strict liability statute — meaning the government does not have to prove you intended to break the law. A simple documentation error, an outdated contract, or a missed fair-market-value update can put your entire practice at risk.

That's why we've created this exclusive expert webinar.

We've brought in Michael R. Lowe, Esq., a board-certified healthcare attorney and Managing Partner of Lowe & Evander, P.A., who has spent decades representing physicians and physician group practices in Stark Law analyses, Anti-Kickback defense, voluntary self-disclosures, fraud and abuse prevention, and physician-hospital contract negotiations.

In this 90-minute live virtual session, Michael will translate the most complex Stark and Anti-Kickback rules into plain English and give you a clear, practical playbook for protecting your practice — before mistakes become investigations, fines, or repayment demands.

You'll have the rare opportunity to hear directly from a working healthcare attorney, ask your most pressing compliance questions live, and walk away with concrete steps you can implement immediately to reduce risk, structure compliant arrangements, and protect your revenue and reputation.

Seats are limited. Register today before the May 19 deadline.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this expert-led webinar, attendees will be able to:

1. Identify what legally qualifies as "remuneration" under the Anti-Kickback Statute — including non-monetary items, services, and arrangements that most practices never recognize as risk.
2. Distinguish legitimate patient accommodations from illegal inducements — including the rules around free services, transportation, gifts, and patient incentives.
3. Apply Stark Law and Anti-Kickback safe harbor protections to lawfully structure financial relationships, employment agreements, and referral arrangements.
4. Structure physician contracts and compensation arrangements that won't trigger audits, investigations, or whistleblower lawsuits — including fair market value documentation.
5. Comply with the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (EKRA) and understand how it expands beyond traditional Anti-Kickback rules.
6. Properly self-disclose violations through HHS-OIG and CMS programs to dramatically minimize penalties — and recognize when self-disclosure is the right strategic move.
7. Determine when copays and deductibles can (and absolutely cannot) be waived without violating federal law.
8. Document financial hardship waivers correctly to stay compliant when patients legitimately cannot pay.
9. Recognize prohibited gifts, gratuities, and "thank you" arrangements with referring providers, vendors, and pharmaceutical reps.
10. Stay within the 2026 non-monetary compensation limit of $535 per physician and other annually-adjusted thresholds.
11. Avoid the most common — and most costly — Stark and AKS mistakes that physician practices make every day without realizing it.
12. Build a defensible compliance posture that protects your practice, revenue, and reputation if regulators come knocking.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This exclusive webinar is essential for anyone whose role touches referrals, contracts, financial relationships, billing, or compliance — including:

• Physicians, Practice Owners & Partners ultimately liable for compliance decisions
• Practice Managers & Administrators responsible for daily operational decisions
• Compliance Officers & HIPAA Officers managing policies, audits, and risk
• Billing & Revenue Cycle Managers processing claims tied to referrals
• Operations & HR Leaders overseeing physician employment agreements
• CFOs & Finance Leaders evaluating compensation structures and FMV
• In-House Counsel & Outside Healthcare Attorneys advising medical groups
• Hospital & Health System Administrators managing physician relationships
• ASC, Imaging Center, Lab, DME, and Pharmacy Leaders with referral arrangements
• Medical Directors receiving directorship compensation
• Physician Recruiting & Onboarding Teams structuring new hire agreements
• Telehealth and Digital Health Practices navigating new EKRA risks
• Marketing & Business Development Staff managing referral relationships
• Healthcare Consultants advising provider clients on compliance

If your organization makes referrals, receives referrals, employs physicians, or contracts with anyone who does — this webinar is for you.

WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND

Because in 2026, "we didn't know" is no longer a defense — and the cost of finding out the hard way has never been higher.

Most healthcare leaders assume Stark and Anti-Kickback violations are something that happens to "other people" — big hospital systems with deep pockets and aggressive compensation models. That assumption is exactly what whistleblower attorneys and federal prosecutors are counting on.

Here's what every practice needs to understand about the 2026 enforcement environment:

?? Enforcement Has Reached a Record High

The DOJ's record $6.8 billion in 2025 False Claims Act recoveries — combined with 1,297 qui tam lawsuits — proves that whistleblower-driven enforcement is the #1 compliance threat facing healthcare today. Most of those whistleblowers are current or former employees of the practices they're reporting.

? Settlements Are Reaching Hundreds of Millions

Community Health Network's $480 million settlement and Kaiser's $581 million settlement weren't anomalies — they're warnings. Even mid-sized practices have settled Stark and AKS allegations for tens of millions of dollars, often based on arrangements the practice genuinely believed were compliant.

? Stark Law Has No Intent Requirement

Unlike most laws, Stark is a strict liability statute. You don't have to mean to violate it. You don't even have to know you violated it. A misdocumented lease, an expired contract, or a compensation formula tied to referrals — even unintentionally — can trigger massive penalties.

? The Penalty Structure Is Devastating

• $15,000 per service in civil penalties under Stark

• $100,000 per arrangement for circumvention schemes
• $23,863 per service in some civil monetary penalties
• Triple damages under the False Claims Act
• $50,000–$100,000 per violation under the Anti-Kickback Statute
• Up to 10 years in federal prison for criminal AKS violations
• Permanent exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid

For a typical practice processing thousands of Medicare claims, even a small violation can compound into multimillion-dollar liability.

? Everyday Decisions Are Triggering Violations

The risk isn't hidden in exotic schemes. It's hidden in everyday decisions:

• Waiving a patient's copay "as a courtesy"
• Sending a holiday gift basket to a referring physician
• Renting space below market rate to a colleague
• Paying a medical director above fair market value
• Forgetting to update an employment agreement after compensation changes
• Accepting "free" supplies, lunches, or training from a vendor

Each of these can — and has — triggered investigations.

? EKRA Has Expanded the Risk Beyond Federal Programs

The Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act now applies to commercial insurance, not just Medicare and Medicaid. Practices that thought they were safe because they didn't bill federal programs are suddenly exposed.

? Whistleblowers Are Watching From the Inside

Most Stark and AKS cases start with a current or former employee filing a qui tam lawsuit — and they collect 15–30% of the recovery. Disgruntled billers, departing physicians, and even competitors have every financial incentive to report you.

What Makes This Webinar Different

? Direct access to a board-certified healthcare attorney — not a generic compliance overview ? Plain-English translations of the most complex federal statutes affecting your practice ? Real-world tactics from active cases — current as of May 2026 ? Live Q&A — bring your toughest scenarios and get answers from an attorney who handles them every day ? Practical templates and decision frameworks you can implement immediately ? 90 minutes of focused expert content — no fluff, no filler ? Optional on-demand recording — share with your physicians, attorneys, and compliance team

The ROI Is Obvious

The cost of this webinar is a tiny fraction of the cost of:

• One Stark Law civil penalty
• One self-disclosure misstep
• One whistleblower lawsuit
• One internal audit triggered by a vendor relationship
• One physician contract that exceeds fair market value

In 90 minutes, you'll receive the kind of guidance practices typically pay $500–$1,000 per hour to get from healthcare attorneys — distilled, actionable, and tailored to the realities of running a medical practice in 2026.

Don't wait until you receive a subpoena, a CID, or a whistleblower complaint to take Stark and Anti-Kickback compliance seriously. By then, it's already too late.

Reserve your seat for this exclusive expert webinar today.