DOJ Denies Request to Permit Commission Pay for Lab Sales Employees Under EKRA
The Department of Justice has denied a petition from the American Clinical Laboratory Association that sought rulemaking to let labs pay employed sales representatives variable compensation. In a September 25, 2026 Federal Register notice, DOJ also said EKRA prohibits commission-based arrangements tied to referrals even if the Anti-Kickback Statute's employee safe harbor might permit them. The agency noted that EKRA has been in effect for nearly eight years, giving laboratories time to adjust their compliance programs.
...
... No extra. Need maybe "EXPANDED:" and "CONTEXT:" labels. Good. Need ensure no source phrasing copied. We used "employee exception", "volume or value", "AKS employee safe harbor", "independent contractors", "employed sales representatives", "Federal Register notice", "EKRA" unavoidable. "knowingly false or misleading information" from source. Is that copying source phrasing? It's factual phrase. But instruction says entirely original wording, never copying source phrasing. We can rephrase: "subject to limits involving deliberate false or deceptive statements to providers or patients." Better. "volume or value of generated business" source phrase "volume or value of business the employee helps to generate". We can rephrase: "compensation linked to how much business an employee helps produce." Good. "AKS employee safe harbor" is term. Fine. "independent contractors" term. "employed sales representatives" term. "Federal Register notice" term. "EKRA" acronym. Good. Let's revise EXPANDE