Articles and Blogs

On Monday, September 11, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that a carefully drafted arbitration agreement between an employee and her employer did not cover the employee’s whistleblower action under the Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) or Nevada’s state-law equivalent.[1] The court’s opinion in this case demonstrates that even the strong... READ MORE

Eligible Professionals participating in the Medicare Meaningful Use Electronic Health Record Incentive Program have until October 1, 2017 to submit a hardship application to avoid a downward payment adjustment in 2018. A participant may submit a hardship application if the Eligible Professional: Is a first-time Eligible Professional who intends to participate in the advancing care information performance... READ MORE

READ MORE

Congress Returns for Fall Work Period Congress returned to Washington this week after their longest break of the calendar year. The Senate reengaged on the issue of ACA repeal and began hearings on a legislative package to stabilize the ACA marketplace. On September 6-7, the Senate HELP Committee held hearings with state insurance commissioners... READ MORE

NATIONAL Health IT passes first big test with Hurricane Harvey Hickenlooper-Kasich health care proposal calls for retaining individual mandate, funding CSRs Bundled payments on ‘pause,’ but not for long After Harvey, telemedicine connects doctors to displaced patients New U.S. surgeon general sworn in Tuesday Specialty practices way behind on MACRA readiness, survey shows Sen.... READ MORE

READ MORE

Health-related entities and individuals should consider securing registration for “.health” domain suffixes associated with their legal and/or trade names during the health industry exclusivity period now through November 30, 2017. The new .health top level domain suffixes provide unique opportunities for health-related entities and individuals to solidify branding in their current and future digital... READ MORE

On September 6, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Survey and Certification (“S&C”) Memo 17-44 with new guidance to State Survey Agencies pertaining to the application of the Medicare statutory definition of  “hospital” and whether a hospital is “primarily engaged” in the provision of inpatient services. CMS clarified that... READ MORE

On August 25, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) posted Advisory Opinion 17-03 addressing a proposed arrangement whereby a pharmaceutical manufacturer of biologics and other products (“Supplier”) would replace products that require specialized handling[1] that could not be administered to patients for certain reasons, at no additional charge... READ MORE

Most employers are familiar with the scrutiny afforded non-compete agreements. However, many don’t realize that there are other forms of restrictive covenants potentially subject to that same scrutiny. Today, September 5, 2017, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be asked to decide whether the state’s law that limits the enforceability of non-compete agreements applies to... READ MORE