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THE VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL 14 www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com April 2017 Tax Season is the Perfect Time to Review Your Estate Planning Documents by Andrea Shoop As April 15th approaches, many people are putting together their income tax returns and reviewing their personal and business finances. This is an excellent time to include a review and update of your estate planning documents, to make sure that all assets are included along with any family member changes. With careful planning, both current and future tax liabilities may be reduced, as well as protecting assets for your heirs. What Are the Related Areas of Tax and Estate Planning? There are few areas where both tax planning and estate planning need to be considered together. How assets are held, transferred and valued all have an impact on taxability. Lifetime Gifts: You may make gifts during your lifetime up to $14,000 per year, for as many people as you like, without incurring gift taxes. This can help to reduce your estate value as well to minimize taxes. Business Succession Planning: For closely-held companies and family businesses, succession planning is an essential part of the estate plan. Any changes in ownership or potential successors will require an update to your will or trust. Life Insurance: Life insurance is naturally a part of estate planning, and in many cases, can be used to “fund” a living trust to make it valid. IRAs and Pensions: Many people view IRAs and other retirement plans as being tax-beneficial, but if those are distributed in an estate plan to heirs they may be taxed at a rate of up to 40%. There are methods to minimize those taxes, but it requires pre-planning. Social Security: If you are approaching retirement age, when you choose to begin receiving social security will affect the amount of the monthly payments. Payments are subject to income tax, affecting other choices about retirement fund withdrawals. Tax Season Planning List Here is a quick list of the documents and financial information to review during tax season: • Will or living trust, especially if there are changes in asset inclusion or distribution • Retirement accounts and planned elections on when to begin withdrawals • Social security payments, and when to elect the time to begin payments • Business succession plans and ownership agreements • Life insurance policies and beneficiary choices • Charitable gifts All of these items will affect your income taxes in future years, as well as taxes on your estate assets. If you have questions please contact Andrea Shoup at 951-445-4114. This is an excellent time to include a review and update of your estate planning documents, to make sure that all assets are included along with any family member changes. BWN Announces Guest Speakers for April BWN has been promoting women since 1992 - the longest running women’s networking group in the Temecula Valley. Our goal is to have the highest quality of professional business women in a broad variety of industries to network with and support. We are seeking new members and would like to invite women seeking a dynamic women’s networking group to join us the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at Noon at the Broken Yolk Restaurant, Ynez & Winchester in Temecula. A guest fee of $15 includes lunch, beverage and gratuity. April 11th - our member presenters will be Erin Furlong with Danmar Insurance and Lisa Harris of Enduring Fitness 4 You. April 25th - is Devona & Kevin Stimpson of Strive & Grind, a boutique branding agency. RSVP by noon the Monday before to Lisa@EnduringFitness4u.com
April 2017 Physician Beware THE VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com 15 It is easy for physicians to run afoul of numerous federal and state laws when operating or selling their medical practice. The purpose of this article is to briefly discuss the False Claims Act (FCA), and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark law). The Government agencies charged with enforcing these laws include the Department of Justice, the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The civil FCA shields the Government from being overcharged or sold inferior goods or services. It is illegal to present claims for payment to Medicare or Medicaid you know or should know are false or fraudulent. If a claim results from a kickback, or is made in violation of the Stark law, that alone may render it false or fraudulent creating liability under the civil FCA and the AKS or Stark law. No specific intent to defraud is required. The civil FCA defines “knowing” to include not only actual knowledge but also instances in which the person acted in deliberate ignorance or reckless disregard of the truth or falsity of the information. The penalties are severe; Physicians have gone to prison for submitting false health care claims. A few case examples of FCA violations from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General’s publication, “Avoiding Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse” include: • A psychiatrist was fined $400,000 and permanently excluded from participating in the Federal health care programs for misrepresenting that he provided therapy sessions requiring 30 or 60 minutes of face-to-face time with the patient, when he had provided only medication checks for 15 minutes or less. • A dermatologist was sentenced to 2 years of probation and 6 months of home confinement and ordered to pay $2.9 million for falsifying lab tests and backdating letters to referring physicians to substantiate false diagnoses to make the documents appear that his patients had Medicare covered conditions when they did not. • A cardiologist paid the Government $435,000 and entered a 5-year Integrity Agreement with OIG to settle allegations he knowingly submitted claims for consultation services not supported by patient medical records and did not meet the criteria for a consultation. The AKS [42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)] is a criminal law that prohibits the knowing and willful payment of compensation to (1) encourage or reward patient referrals or (2) generate business involving any item or service payable by the Federal health care programs including drugs, supplies, or health care services for Medicare or Medicaid patients. Compensation includes anything of value such as cash, free rent, expensive hotel stays and meals, and excessive payment for medical directorships or consultancies. The statute covers the payers of kickbacks; those who offer or pay remuneration and the recipients of kickbacks; those who solicit or receive remuneration. Criminal penalties and administrative sanctions for violating the AKS include fines, jail terms, and exclusion from participation in the Federal health care programs. Physicians are attractive targets for kickback schemes because they are naturally a great source of referrals for fellow physicians or other health care providers and suppliers. Physicians choose what drugs their patient’s use, which specialists they see and what health care services and supplies they receive. Many people and companies want the physician to steer their patients to them and will pay to send that business their way. And remember, it’s a two-way street and it is just illegal for the physician to take money from providers and suppliers in return for the referral of Medicare and Medicaid patients as it is for the physician to pay others to refer those patients to them. A few case examples of kickback violations from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General’s publication, “Avoiding Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse” include: • Nine cardiologists paid the Government over $3.2 million for engaging in a kickback scheme. The cardiologists received salaries under clinical faculty services agreements with a hospital under which, the Government, they did not provide some or the services. In exchange, the cardiologists referred their patients to the hospital for cardiology services. • A physician paid the Government $203,000 to settle allegations he violated the physician self-referral prohibition in the Stark law for routinely referring Medicare patients to an oxygen supply company he owned. • Four orthopedic device manufacturers paid $311 million to settle kickback and false claims allegations that the companies bribed surgeons to recommend their hip and knee surgical implant products. The companies allegedly would award physicians with vacations, gifts, and annual “consulting fees” as high as $200,000 in return for the physicians’ endorsements of their implants or use in operations. The Stark Act prohibits physicians from referring patients to receive designated health services payable by Medicare or Medicaid from entities with which the physician or an immediate family member has a financial relationship, unless an exception applies. Its terms can be a complicated trap for the unwary, particularly in circumstances where physicians are selling their practices, but intend to refer patients or provide services to the purchaser. As stated: it is easy for physicians to run afoul of numerous federal and state laws when operating or selling their medical practice. An experienced health care lawyer can analyze your issues and provide a legal evaluation and risk analysis of the proposed venture, relationship, or arrangement. Messina & Hankin has a Temecula Valley Law Office – contact information (951) 894-7332 – JMessina@Messina- HankinLaw.com. LEGAL John A. Messina, Jr., Esq by Steve Fillingim Mary E. Gram, Esq. The Branding Hive Wins Addy Award The Branding Hive, one of Southwest California’s independent brand development and marketing agencies, was awarded the Bronze Addy Award at the March, 2017 Addy Gala hosted by the American Advertising Federation–Inland Empire which salutes outstanding brand development, advertising and marketing agencies. “We are both humbled and honored to receive this award,” said Carroll Eristhee, President at The Branding Hive, “we exist to make our clients’ brands matter. This award is a true testament to the leadership, creativity and talent across our company, and to the bravery of our clients who entrust their brands to us each and every day.” The win tops off a remarkable year for The Branding Hive as the company was recently awarded a Marcom Award administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). Each year an award is chosen from over 6,000 professional entries to include media conglomerates, and Fortune 500 companies. About The Branding Hive - The Branding Hive is a brand development and brand management company that specializes in creative services, public relations, content management, promotional videos, and marketing for businesses seeking to launch, grow or reinvent themselves. The Branding Hive provides award-winning services to personal brands, and B2B client partners. For more information, visit www.thebrandinghive.com, like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook. com/brandinghive or on instagram:@ thebrandinghive_ca Your Local Chambers Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce www.temecula.org Murrieta Chamber of Commerce www.murrietachamber.org Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce www.menifeevalleychamber.com Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber www.lakeelsinorechamber.com Hemet/San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce www.hsjvc.com See how the chambers can help your business.
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