1. Official approval or authorization. 2. Penalty that results from failure to comply with a law. 3. In the Medicare or Medicaid programs, a penalty or exclusion from the program for fraud or other violation such as soliciting or receiving a kickback for referring patients for other medical services, using substandard treatments, or doing procedures that harm patients.

To impose civil monetary penalties or exclusion of a provider from participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs for a specific period of time due to conviction of a Medicare- or Medicaid-related crime.

Office of Inspector General (OIG) record of providers, individuals, and entities that are excluded from Medicare reimbursement. This list includes identifying information about the sanctioned party, specialty, notice date, sanction period, and sections of the Social Security Act used in arriving at the determination to impose a sanction. It is titled List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE) and may be found at http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/exclusions.asp . Also called exclusion list.