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Operators should be able to offer free or discounted rides to the loved ones of residents being transported to skilled care facilities, asserts a letter from the American Health Care Association.

The correspondence comes as the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General mulls revisions to several rules related to enforcing healthcare anticorruption statutes.

“Safe harbor protection for the provision of free or discounted local transportation services — while meeting the safe harbor’s specified criteria — could help SNF and long term care facility patients and residents maintain strong community ties and social connections,” AHCA Senior Vice President Mike Cheek wrote. The protection should extend to the transitional period before residents are fully admitted, the letter adds.