HHS OIG Issues Favorable Opinion On Health Center ‘Food-As-Medicine’ Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) issued a favorable advisory opinion on a food-as-medicine program proposed by a federally qualified health center (FQHC). Although the free food offered through the program implicates the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Beneficiary Inducements Civil Monetary Penalty provision, HHS OIG concluded that the arrangement presented a sufficiently low risk of fraud and abuse and said it would not impose administrative sanctions on the requesting organization.

The health center’s program is intended for 50 financially needy consumers with diabetes or hypertension. Over . . .