"OK," you're thinking, "The erosion of the criminal intent principle is troubling. But, as a practical matter, how can a doctor or some other health care provider violate the statute without knowing it?" With frightening ease, as it happens. The line separating legal and illegal business practices under AKB is not easy to see. A provider's guilt or innocence in an anti-kickback prosecution, to paraphrase a former President, depends on what the meaning of "remuneration" is. And AKB is written in such impenetrable bureaucratese that a generally accepted legal definition of that word has been elusive. "Remuneration" means obvious things like kickbacks and bribes, of course, but it can also mean "payment in kind" made "directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly." Interpreted broadly, such language can cover virtually every transaction that occurs in the health care industry.Let the voter beware. We need to repeal ObamaCare. Defund it, defang it.
Wouldn't it be amazing if we could elect a veto-proof majority?
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