A high level overview of lab marketing services agreements under the new law, Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018 (“EKRA”)

EKRA brings a regulatory change that is having a drastic impact on the lab marketing services arena, including commission-based payments to marketing and sales professionals. EKRA is designed to prevent referrals in exchange for kickbacks. It is large in scope due to it applying to all laboratory services and covering both public and private payors. It prevents payments to marketers based on the:

  1. Number of individuals referred;
  2. Number of tests or procedures performed; or
  3. Amount billed or received.

VMG is working with clients and their legal counsel to problem solve creating regulatory compliant payment arrangements that remain functional for laboratories from a business perspective.