In March of this year, after months of heated debate, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “Act”) were enacted into law. The Act is a massive piece of legislation that addresses a broad range of issues affecting the U. S. healthcare system. Included amongst its provisions are modifications to the existing federal Stark and fraud and abuse laws, which are likely to affect how healthcare providers structure their common business arrangements.

This article provides a brief summary of some of the major changes to these laws.