In a Policy Statement by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), Health & Human Services released December 7, 2016, the OIG updated its long-standing interpretation of the term “nominal value” with regard to gifts to federal health care program beneficiaries that do not comprise “remuneration” under section 1128A(a)(5) of the Social Security Act. The OIG now interprets nominal value as having a retail value of no more than $15 per item and $75 in the aggregate per patient annually, as long as the items are not cash or cash equivalents. Previously, these amounts had been $10 per item and $50 in the aggregate annually. The increases are consistent with the OIG’s prior position that it would periodically review these limits and adjust them according to inflation if appropriate, in the April 2000 final rule on beneficiary inducements and an August 2002 Special Advisory Bulletin.
