A kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker in exchange for services rendered.
[3] The most common form of kickback involves a vendor submitting a fraudulent or inflated invoice (often for goods or services which were not needed, of inferior quality, or both), with an employee of the victim company assisting in securing payment.
[7] The Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) prohibits medical providers and physicians from paying or receiving kickbacks or any financial benefits in return for referrals of patients who are covered under federal healthcare programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE.
[8] However, shortly thereafter, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services implemented two "safe harbor" exemptions to the Federal Antikickback Statute for "rebates" paid by pharmaceutical companies to Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to secure preferred placement on drug formularies, and a second "safe harbor" exemption for Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs).
In Italy, the political scene was realigned dramatically by the Tangentopoli scandals in the 1990s, which uncovered widespread use of kickbacks in the national and local governments.