In the United States, healthcare fraud and abuse are significant factors associated with rising healthcare costs. The federal government is estimated to spend billions of dollars on health care costs (Edwards & DeHaven, 2009). Despite the severity of fraud and abuse crimes, a growing number of healthcare providers are looking for new and more profitable ways to build business relationships. These relationships include hospital mergers, joint ventures between physicians and hospitals, and different types of physician networks affiliated with hospitals to cover the rising costs of health care (Showalter, 2007, p 111-114). When these types of agreements are made, legal issues related to the relationship often arise. There are five important federal fraud and abuse laws that apply to relationships and physicians: the False Claims Act (FCA), the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), the Physician Self-Referral Act (Stark Law), the exclusion authority, and the Civil Monetary Penalties Act (CMPL) and (Office of Inspector General (OIG), 2010). Of the five most important laws that apply to reporting and physicians, we will focus on the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law). What is the Anti-Kickback Statute and Self-Referral Law? The federal Anti-Kickback Statute is a criminal statute that prohibits any person or business entity from making or accepting payments of any type of compensation to increase referrals for health care services reimbursable by the federally funded health care program, including Medicare and Medicaid . Because the anti-kickback statute is a criminal statute, violations of it are considered felonies, with criminal penalties of up to $25,000 in fines and five… half of paper… Fraud and Abuse in Federal Programs Excerpt from the Cato website Institute http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/fraud-and-abuseOffice of Inspector General. (2010). A Roadmap for New Doctors: Avoiding Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse. Retrieved from DHHS publication http://oig.hhs.gov/compliance/physician-education/index.aspOh, J. (2011). Anti-kickback cases involving hospitals in 2010 and 2011. ASC review of Becker. Retrieved from http://www.beckersasc.com/stark-act-and-fraud-abuse-issues/10 big-anti-kickback-cases-involving-hospitals-in-2010.htmlShowalter, J. S. (2007). Southwick's Law of Hospital and Health Administration, 5th ed. Chicago: Health Administrator PressWatnik, R. (2000). Antikickback vs. Stark: What's the difference?. Healthcare Financial Management: Journal of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, 54(3), 66-67.