To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: On 2 December 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a Notice of Final Rulemaking in the Federal Register (Final Rule), 1 modifying the regulations implementing the federal physician self-referral law (the Stark Law). 2 In the Final Rule, CMS largely finalizes many of the proposals set forth in the Proposed Rulemaking issued on 17 October 2019 (Proposed Rule), 3 with certain modifications. CMS has indicated that many of the changes to the Stark Law are intended to provide additional flexibility and reduce administrative burden to health care providers in structuring arrangements to comply with the Stark Law, driven by the Department of Health and Human Services’ initiative to accelerate the transformation of the health care system to better pay for value and promote care coordination, titled the “Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care.” The great majority of the final regulations go into effect on 1 January 2021, with the exception of the amendments to the group practice definition in 42 C.F.R. § 411.352, which are effective beginning 1 January 2022.