Articles and Blogs

Can the False Claims Act be used by the government or whistleblowers in quality of care cases? The Department of Justice seems to think so, based in significant part on the retention of overpayments amendments to the FCA by FERA and the PPACA. For more please read Retention of Overpayments under FERA and the... READ MORE

Over the past five years, the FMLA has been amended on several occasions. While the FMLA was amended most recently in late 2009 under the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) and the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act (“AFCTCA”), the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division delayed in issuing proposed regulations until... READ MORE

On January 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) formally published its Omnibus Final Rule (“Final Rule”), which includes modifications to the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”).  Because the Final Rule covers... READ MORE

Confidentiality, Public Relations and Blogging Policies Held to Be Unlawful As we reported in our Employment Law News article in January, the NLRB has been very active in challenging any employer policy that could reasonably be understood by an employee to interfere with rights protected under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”).  The NLRA... READ MORE

House Leaders Unveil SGR Repeal Framework The Chairmen with primary jurisdiction over the Medicare payment rates announced their plan to repeal and replace the current sustainable growth rate (“SGR”)  formula.  Ways and Means Chairman Camp (R-MI) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Upton (R-MI) announced they will work together to address the SGR. READ MORE

Summary Yesterday, February 7, 2013, CMS issued a proposed rule that addresses a number of changes to the Conditions of Participation (“CoP”) for hospitals, 78 FR 9216 (“Proposed Rule”).  Beyond hospitals, this Proposed Rule speaks to other areas affecting ambulatory surgical centers, CLIA proficiency testing and transplant centers, among others.  This summary deals with... READ MORE

On January 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) formally published its Omnibus Final Rule (“Final Rule”), which includes modifications to the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”).  Because the Final Rule covers... READ MORE

The Affordable Care Act requires employers who are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide each employee a written notice of certain rights and information.  This notice was to be provided no later than March 1, 2013 to current employees and to any employees hired after that date.  However, the U.S. Department... READ MORE

In 2003, two fires in long-term care facilities resulted in 31 resident deaths. As a result of these two events, CMS analyzed the fire safety precautions in place in these facilities and determined that resident safety could be greatly improved by requiring that all long-term care facilities have automatic sprinkling systems installed throughout the... READ MORE

Early last month, Congress enacted the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the “Act”).  The Act made certain changes to the Medicare therapy caps that included services provided in critical access hospitals (“CAHs”) being subject to the caps.  CMS’s position on how it is going to apply this provision has recently been revised, with CAHs... READ MORE