Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL AHA pushes back on HHS proposal to penalize hospitals for cyberattacks AHA urges Congress to oppose H.R. 5378 unless site-neutral cuts eliminated Bipartisan Congressional Caucus Addresses Payments to Rural Hospitals Cigna ends Humana merger talks, plans $10B stock buyback: WSJ Cigna still exploring Medicare Advantage sale: Report CMS: May take 3 years to... READ MORE

After a slow start to the year, the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (“OPDP”) now has a total of five enforcement letters for 2023 (four Untitled Letters and one Warning Letter) with potentially the last two letters of 2023 issued on Halloween. Our summary of the first three letters... READ MORE

Hospitalogy published a roundup of recent earnings reports for a number of health systems. Several large, nonprofit health systems experienced losses in the recently ended quarter, while CVS Health and other for-profit providers reported profits and earnings growth. A recent Bisnow article indicated that, despite showing more resilience than the general office sector, the... READ MORE

NATIONAL 8.5M Records Impacted By Welltok Data Breach Stemming From MOVEit Hack 60% of employed physicians required to sign noncompetes 6.9 Million 23andMe Users Affected by Data Breach American Hospital Association debuts national patient safety initiative AHA voices ‘deep concern’ in restricting provider-based Medicaid funds AHA-supported bill would prohibit HHS from finalizing long-term care... READ MORE

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (“the Court”) recently affirmed the dismissal of a nursing student intern’s lawsuit alleging disability discrimination and failure to accommodate claims. The Court opined that the plaintiff in this action failed to establish an intentional discrimination claim against Hurley Medical Center (“Hurley”) and that Hurley did not fail to... READ MORE

Hall Render is proud to be included in the list of law firms partnering with Diversity Lab to continue building a culture of inclusion for people with disabilities. Our collaboration involves the implementation of specific actions outlined in Diversity Lab’s Disability Inclusion Commitments, an initiative aimed at addressing the often-overlooked aspect of disability inclusivity... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finalized significant updates to the Hospital Price Transparency regulation for the first time since the rule took effect on January 1, 2021. Many of the changes included in the CY 2024 Medicare OPPS and ASC Final Rule will affect all hospitals and necessitate updates, modifications and in... READ MORE

Mayo Clinic unveiled a $5B plan to redesign its Rochester, Minnesota campus. The plan includes creating “health neighborhoods” within the campus that will focus on certain patient needs. CommonSpirit Health has closed on a $5M impact investment to support an affordable housing community in San Francisco called Freedom West Homes. Becker’s published a summary... READ MORE

NATIONAL 340B drug discount program yields mixed evidence on how hospitals use funds 3 in 5 Patients Accessed Health Records Online or Via Apps in 2022 Acute hospital care at home gets good grades from CMS research AHA-supported bill would ban health plan fees for electronic fund transfers AHA-supported bill would extend Medicare programs... READ MORE

On September 29, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) announced the issuance of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “Proposed Rule”) to expand the FDA’s regulatory scope over in vitro diagnostics products (“IVDs”) to specifically address Laboratory Developed Tests (“LDTs”). Traditionally, the FDA exercised enforcement discretion over LDTs, meaning that the FDA has... READ MORE