FAQs–Application of OIG’s Administrative Enforcement Authorities to Arrangements Directly Connected to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency
HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued updated FAQs regarding application of OIG’s administrative enforcement authorities to arrangements directly connected to COVID-19. The new FAQs, posted on September 3, provide guidance on: (1) a specific scenario in which a federally-qualified health center (FQHC) received a COVID-19 relief grant from a private foundation and is interested in whether it may use that funding to furnish cash-equivalent gift cards to address social determinants of health for financially needy individuals; and (2) whether a home health agency’s staff member may provide free blood draws to assisted living facility residents who are federal health care program beneficiaries and are not patients of the home health agency.