Company: WW
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-029511
Chunk: 119

Company: WW INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 119
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 any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation.

In addition, federal healthcare laws prohibit the offer or transfer to a federal healthcare program beneficiary, of any remuneration, including free services, and waivers of beneficiary cost sharing that the offeror knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary’s selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier of federal healthcare program items or services unless there has been a good faith determination of the beneficiary’s financial need. Violations may result in the imposition of civil monetary penalties. Moreover, the routine waivers of copayments and deductibles offered to patients covered by commercial payors may also implicate applicable state laws related to, among other things, unlawful schemes to defraud, insurance fraud, excessive fees for services, tortious interference with patient contracts and statutory or common law fraud. If arrangements are found to be inconsistent with applicable federal and state fraud, waste and abuse, state advertising, insurance or other applicable laws, we may be required to restructure or discontinue certain programs, or be subject to other significant penalties, enforcement actions or investigations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

To enforce compliance with the federal laws such as the FCA, the Office of the Inspector General of the HHS (the “OIG”) and the DOJ recently have increased their scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare professionals, which has resulted in investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the healthcare industry. Other government regulators, such as state boards of medicine, and third-party payors may also investigate or take enforcement actions or subject certain medical and prescribing practices, claims, and medical records to increased scrutiny. Dealing with investigations can be time and resource consuming and can divert management’s attention from the business. Any such future investigation or settlement could increase our costs or otherwise have an adverse effect on our business.

Additionally, federal and state government agencies, including state boards of medicine and pharmacy and departments of public health, as well as commercial payors, have increased their auditing and administrative, civil and criminal enforcement efforts as part of an effort to identify and to stem healthcare fraud and abuse and to address complaints or allegations involving PCs and Affiliated Professionals. These audits and investigations relate to a wide variety of topics, including but not limited to the following: ordering and referral