Nicholas Alarif

Nicholas Francis Alarif focuses his practice in health care regulatory and fraud and abuse matters, including the physician self-referral law (Stark Law), False Claims Act (FCA), the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and other health care compliance matters. He also advises clients on the complex legal and factual issues surrounding Medicare Parts A–D reimbursement and other Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payment policies. Read Nicholas Francis Alarif's full bio.

Firm/Organization: McDermott Will & Emery

Blogs: FCA Update, Health & Life Sciences News

Latest Articles

FCA Update

Stark Law Proposed Change Affects Group Practice Special Rules for Productivity Bonuses, Profit Shares

By James A. Cannatti III, Dana Dombey, Tony Maida, Daniel H. Melvin, Monica Wallace, Nicholas Alarif & Chelsea M. Rutherford

October 22, 2019

On October 9, 2019, the US Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published proposed changes to the physician self-referral law (Stark Law). Physician practices are subject to the Stark Law, and the proposed rule includes an important clarification affecting certain group practices’ compensation models. CMS proposes to revise its regulations to clarify the special rule for group practice distributions of income from Stark designated health services (DHS). Compliance…

FCA Update

HHS Proposes Substantial Changes to the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute Regulations

By James A. Cannatti III, Tony Maida, Daniel H. Melvin, Joan Polacheck, Monica Wallace & Nicholas Alarif

October 9, 2019

On October 9, 2019, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published proposed changes to the physician self-referral law (Stark Law) (Stark Proposed Rule) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the Beneficiary Inducement Civil Monetary Penalty Law (CMPL) (AKS Proposed Rule). The proposed rules represent some of the most significant potential changes to these laws in the last decade. HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan said that they “would be…

Health & Life Sciences News

Medicare Hearings and Appeals: Litigation, New Initiatives, and Opportunities to Exit the Backlog

By McDermott Will & Emery & Nicholas Alarif

June 14, 2018

Providers continue to face a massive Medicare appeals backlog before the Office of Medicare Hearing and Appeals (OMHA). Pending appeals number in the hundreds of thousands and the current average processing time for an appeal is over three years, with newly filed appeals likely to reach closer to five. While OMHA and Medicare reimbursement appeals face endemic issues, new developments and alternative programs may present strategic opportunities for providers and chip away at the backlog.…

FCA Update

Eleventh Circuit Decision Expands Circuit Split on the FCA’s Statute of Limitations

By Matthew L. Knowles & Nicholas Alarif

April 26, 2018

On April 11, 2018, the Eleventh Circuit split from several other circuits on the question whether False Claims Act (FCA) relators can rely on the three-year statute of limitations extension in 31 U.S.C. § 3731(b)(2) in cases where the United States declines to intervene. Under § 3731(b), an FCA case must be filed within the later of: 6 years after the date on which the violation…is committed, or 3 years after the date when facts material…

FCA Update

Physician Compensation Scrutiny Continues in Recent FCA Settlement

By Amy H. Kearbey & Nicholas Alarif

June 16, 2017

A hospital system in Missouri recently agreed to settle with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for $34 million to resolve claims related to alleged violations of the Stark Law. On May 18, 2017, DOJ announced a settlement agreement with Mercy Hospital Springfield (Hospital) and its affiliate, Mercy Clinic Springfield Communities (Clinic). The Hospital and Clinic are both located in Springfield, Missouri. The relator’s complaint was filed in the Western District of Missouri’s Southern Division…

FCA Update

A Hospital’s Deserving Stark and AKS Victory—But At What Cost?

By Tony Maida, T. Reed Stephens & Nicholas Alarif

May 31, 2017

This April, providers cheered when a federal district court in the Middle District of Florida found insufficient evidence to support a relator’s theory that a hospital had provided free parking to physicians, in violation of the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). In the Report and Recommendation for United States ex rel. Bingham v. BayCare Health Systems, 2017 WL 126597, M.D. Fla., No. 8:14-cv-73, Judge Steven D. Merryday of the Middle District of Florida endorsed…

Nicholas Alarif

Stark Law Proposed Change Affects Group Practice Special Rules for Productivity Bonuses, Profit Shares

HHS Proposes Substantial Changes to the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute Regulations

Medicare Hearings and Appeals: Litigation, New Initiatives, and Opportunities to Exit the Backlog

Eleventh Circuit Decision Expands Circuit Split on the FCA’s Statute of Limitations

Physician Compensation Scrutiny Continues in Recent FCA Settlement

A Hospital’s Deserving Stark and AKS Victory—But At What Cost?

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