Articles and Blogs

A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the sometimes hostile relationship between the government and the whistleblowers it relies on to prosecute False Claims Act (“FCA”) actions. The resulting opinion was twofold: If the government wants to dictate FCA litigation it must intervene in the lawsuit; and The government has... READ MORE

The health care real estate industry has not been immune to the COVID-19 pandemic as evidenced by a lower volume of medical office building sales in the second quarter of 2020. Even so, many current trends in health care real estate existed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. The outbreak largely amplified, rather than created,... READ MORE

On August 17, 2020, the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum entitled “Enforcement Cases Held during the Prioritization Period and Revised Survey Prioritization” (“QSO Memo”) that announced the further expansion of survey activity and guidance around enforcement activity. The QSO Memo follows previous... READ MORE

Mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry present unique challenges that may not be present when undertaking similar transactions in other industries. Because of health care’s highly regulated nature, parties may falter if a health care transaction is not reviewed and negotiated carefully with respect to the distinct concerns that health care presents.... READ MORE

NATIONAL 24 hospitals bringing back furloughed employees 9 health system malware, ransomware and phishing incidents this month 7 recent big tech partnerships in healthcare: Amazon, Google & more 2020 Hospital Operating Margins Down 96% Through July ADA comments on proposed changes to FTC Health Breach Notification Rule CDC director walks back new COVID-19 testing... READ MORE

On August 25, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released an Interim Final Rule with comment period (“Rule”) with new requirements and enforcement for Medicare and Medicaid Programs, Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (“CLIA”) and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as additional policy and regulatory revisions in response to... READ MORE

On August 25, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released over 200 pages of interim final regulations (the “Interim Final Regulations”) to clarify new enforcement requirements for nursing homes, add requirements for labs to report COVID-19 test results during the public health emergency and require nursing homes to test residents and... READ MORE

Mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry present unique challenges that are not often present when undertaking similar transactions in other industries. Because of health care’s highly regulated nature, parties may falter if a health care transaction is not reviewed and negotiated carefully with respect to the distinct concerns that health care presents.... READ MORE

On August 17, 2020, just one day before a Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) rule retracting discrimination protections for transgender people and pregnant women (“2020 Rule”)[1] was set to go into effect, Judge Frederic Block of the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York... READ MORE

NATIONAL 5 biggest FDA drug approvals of 2020 5 telehealth startups that raised more than $100M in 2020 4 things to know about the CDC’s new acting chief of staff 8 health systems opening new hospitals A month after CDC COVID-19 reporting change, some hospitals still have trouble AHA urges HHS to make telehealth... READ MORE