> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.fdaweb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Continue Kickback Protection for Drugs, Devices: WLF
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/continue-kickback-protection-for-drugs-devices-wlf/
- Published: 2020-01-03T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T15:57:03.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, Devices, #legacy-id-D5145761

Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) says the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) should reverse its decision to exclude drug and medical device manufacturers from the protection of proposed anti-kickback statute safe harbors. In a 12/31/19 comment, WLF praised the OIG’s removal of regulatory barriers to care coordination and value-based care and expressed serious reservations about the proposed rule’s discrimination against certain key players in federal healthcare programs.

The private healthcare industry is rapidly moving away from pricing, contracting, and other arrangements based on the volume of services or products offered and toward arrangements based on tangible results, WLF says. It says that such value-based arrangements can more closely align health outcomes with costs.

OIG has proposed that certain types of business entities, including producers of pharmaceuticals and durable medical devices, should be prohibited from the protection of value-based safe harbors. WLF says the justifications OIG cites for excluding all companies in the disfavored industries are unfounded and that the agency should move away from entity-based participation decisions when finalizing the proposal.