Articles and Blogs

Senate and House Appropriators Nail Down HHS Funding Bill On September 13, a conference committee of House and Senate appropriators finalized details of the fiscal year 2019 Health and Human Services (“HHS”) spending bill, H.R. 6157, which was combined with legislation to fund the Department of Defense. The conference agreement paves a path for... READ MORE

NATIONAL Hospitals are fed up with drug companies, so they’re starting their own Here’s why Amazon and Apple are betting on medical clinics Drug company involving senior living parent companies now has name, CEO, financing, Rx targets National study finds hospital CEO compensation rates outpacing clinical employees Amazon, Google, Microsoft to Make Waves in... READ MORE

Medicaid Bills Advance in the House On September 7, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee advanced a series of health care-related bills that full Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) hopes to move to the floor before the end of September. Among the bills marked up by the subcommittee this week was the ACE Kids... READ MORE

NATIONAL General surgeon shortage growing and 5 other things to know about the healthcare workforce How 5 lawsuits could change US healthcare industry Nurses at many HCA hospitals say they are willing to strike over pay, staffing, security Could a Nationwide Ob-Gyn Shortage Spark Digital Health Innovation? 8 healthcare leaders share physician alignment strategies... READ MORE

Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released findings of an audit of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Open Payments program. The OIG audit revealed that of 11.9 million records published on the Open Payments website for 2015, only less than one percent were missing... READ MORE

On January 13, 2017, CMS published the revised Conditions of Participation (“CoPs”) for home health agencies, 42 CFR 484, Subparts A, B, and Subpart C. The CoPs became effective on January 13, 2018. On August 31, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Memorandum to State Survey Agency Directors (QSO-18-25-HHA) that... READ MORE

NATIONAL Proposed payment changes could influence hospitals’ acquisition strategies CVS, Walgreens Stress Face-To-Face Care Amazon Doesn’t Yet Have Private equity firms pouring millions into physician offices 50 hospitals on Forbes’ best employers list Seventeen Leading Health Systems – Representing 5% of the Nation’s Hospitals – Join Forces to Transform Care for Vulnerable Populations July... READ MORE

Donating space for charitable use may come at a price for health care providers under the Stark Law if they are not careful. The Stark Law[1], which was designed to prevent physicians from referring patients to provider entities in which the physicians have a financial interest, can ensnare even those providers acting with the best... READ MORE

As we noted in the prior article that we recently posted, there were two different franchisor/franchisee rulings issued this summer in the context of joint employment relationships. Recall that joint employment is an employment law theory that involves an employee who works for two separate companies—the joint employers—where both companies have the ability to control... READ MORE

A concern for many workers today is the student loan burden they carry. Many employees, both young and old, are paying off large student loan balances rolled up in pursuing undergraduate and graduate college degrees. As the cost of college education continues to increase at rates that surpass the general inflation rate in the... READ MORE