Articles and Blogs

A Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision this week addressed the appeal of a health care practitioner who had been physically attacked by a patient and seriously injured. The practitioner commenced a civil action against the behavioral health hospital in which she worked, alleging negligence and a violation of the Safe Place Statute. The hospital... READ MORE

Employers increasingly understand millennials are graduating from college with heavy debt loads from student loans. The Pew Research Center reported last August that 37 percent of adults under the age of 30 have student loan debt. For young adults with a bachelor’s degree or greater, the portion with outstanding student loans rises to 53 percent.... READ MORE

We’re pleased to announce the firm was recently named on Law360’s list of best firms for female attorneys. Law360 ranked firms by examining a variety of factors, including the percentage of partners, both equity and nonequity, who are women; the percentage of associate-level attorneys who are women; and the difference in those percentages. The... READ MORE

Most health care providers caring for federal health care program beneficiaries are familiar with the False Claims Act[1] (“FCA”) and its qui tam provision,[2] which grants private citizens the right to sue health care providers on behalf of the federal government. The seemingly routine 6+ figure FCA settlements garner much-deserved attention. After all, providers... READ MORE

Senate and House Work to Combat the Opioid Crisis On June 13, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) introduced H.R. 6, the Substance Use-Disorder... READ MORE

NATIONAL Health Organizations Urge HHS to Recognize MA Providers in MACRA AHA report: Hospitals spend almost $3 trillion, support more than 16 million jobs Berkshire-Amazon-JPMorgan choose healthcare CEO, announcement coming soon Patients face large bills as air ambulance rides proliferate Health IT stakeholders urge CMS to adopt 3 new remote monitoring reimbursement codes CMS... READ MORE

For years, we have reported on the multitude of decisions from the Board striking down employer handbook rules. Many of these decisions were based on a standard set forth in the Lutheran Heritage case, which provided, in part, that a rule or policy maintained by an employer is unlawful if “employees would reasonably construe... READ MORE

NATIONAL Are hospital readmissions an accurate quality measure? These 2 researchers aren’t so sure Physician groups raise alarm over potential dearth of medical residents in July due to visa delays Hospitals are losing money on employed physicians: Here’s how to save the bottom line and your staff 340B cuts sting struggling hospitals, hurt credit... READ MORE

More Changes Ahead for 340B The Human Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) released a final rule delaying the effective date of implementation and enforcement of the previously issued final rule implementing the 340B Drug Discount Program. The delayed rule, which was originally published on January 5, 2017, established the methodology for calculating the 340B... READ MORE

On May 7, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion 18-02, which approved an arrangement allowing a durable medical equipment (“DME”) distributor to provide patients with product samples at no cost to the patient. OIG stated that it would not impose sanctions against the parties... READ MORE