Articles and Blogs

On January 1, 2016, the new Stark Law “timeshare license” exception became law. We reported on the proposed rule here and the final rule here. Initially, the exception received somewhat mixed reviews, which resulted in some hesitancy to employ it. Now that the dust has settled, we believe that the exception presents significant advantages... READ MORE

Under both the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute, space lease arrangements between referring physicians and hospitals are coming under growing scrutiny as the government’s concentration on eliminating Medicare and Medicaid fraud and overpayments increases. Safe harbors and exceptions with respect to lease arrangements exist under both statutes with one of the requirements being... READ MORE

Selecting the most qualified real estate developer for a health care development project starts with a properly conceived and structured Request for Proposal (“RFP”). Health care real estate projects typically have longer project timelines because there are numerous additional considerations involved in such projects. A properly crafted RFP requires thoughtfulness, foresight and experienced legal... READ MORE

In Michigan, a common misconception occurs when 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations buy and sell real property.  While nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporations can be exempt from paying real property taxes while retaining title to and occupying real property in Michigan, they can be subject to a real property transfer tax at the time title to its property... READ MORE

Part 2 of 2 If it survives the current legal challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court, the mandatory coverage aspect of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) will not take effect until 2014.  This timing has the effect of making hospitals tentative about capital deployment in general and for real estate in particular. Besides timing... READ MORE

Part 1 of 2 It seems like yesterday, but we are two years into the “health care reform” era.  The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) became law in March of 2010.  The primary goals of the ACA are three-fold:  increase coverage, reduce the cost of care and improve the quality of care.  Few argue the... READ MORE

Hall Render real estate attorneys regularly police our health care clients’ real estate contracts, particularly leases, to ensure they comply with applicable health laws. In particular, federal Stark and Anti-Kickback laws. A Michigan nonprofit hospital system’s 2011 payment of $30 million in fines for alleged health law violations demonstrates the potentially high cost of... READ MORE

Hall Render real estate attorneys regularly police our health care clients’ real estate contracts, particularly leases, to ensure they comply with applicable health laws. In particular, federal Stark and Anti-Kickback laws. A Michigan nonprofit hospital system’s 2011 payment of $30 million in fines for alleged health law violations demonstrates the potentially high cost of... READ MORE

During the 4th quarter of 2011, Grubb & Ellis (G&E) released their investor outlook for health care properties. The report states that demand is strong and that health care properties will continue to be a reliable investment over the next decade. G&E points to a number of factors to justify its outlook. The driving... READ MORE

A good reminder for leases between health care entities and physician groups is that under the Stark regulations, the space rented is reasonable and necessary for the legitimate business purposes of the lease and is used exclusively by the lessee (during such times when the lessee is using the space) and is not shared... READ MORE