OIG Issues Advisory Opinion Allowing a Federally Qualified Health Center to Routinely Waive Co-Payments and/or Deductibles for Medicare and TRICARE Patients

On January 14, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (the "OIG") issued Advisory Opinion 19-01, which was favorable to a federally qualified health center's ("FQHC's") proposal to routinely waive co-payments and/or deductibles for Medicare and TRICARE patients (the "Proposed Arrangement"). The particular FQHC that made the request is a pediatric clinic that provides medical, psychiatric, and dental care to children who reside in an area that contains disproportionately large numbers of children living in poverty. More ›