Articles and Blogs

NATIONAL 10 supply chain issues concerning ASC leaders 53% of Unvaccinated Long-Term Care Staff Plan to Find Other Work 65 systems pledge to promote vaccine equity 48 hospitals lose legal challenge over DSH payments Children’s hospitals seek federal help amid ‘capacity crisis’ Courts backing physicians in prescription disputes COVID-19 surge pressures nonprofit hospital margins... READ MORE

The importance of senior housing and skilled nursing facilities continues to be a prominent topic of discussion across the United States health care industry. In fact, it is estimated that the aging Baby Boomer population will increase from 20 million in 2014 to 33.6 million by 2029. This rapid change in demographics, coupled with... READ MORE

Through a Notice published on August 12, 2021, the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) announced the availability of up to $500 million in grant funding for the new Emergency Rural Health Care Grant Program (the “Program”) appropriated under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The purpose of the Program is to offer... READ MORE

NATIONAL Appeals court strikes down bid from hospitals and clinics to recalculate Medicare outlier payments CMS delays enforcement of key parts of price transparency rule by 6 months CMS proposes double-digit pay cuts for 6 office-based heart procedures CVS mandates full Covid vaccination for some employees Daily COVID-19 cases up 1,042% from 2021 low... READ MORE

Hall Render hosted a webinar on July 29, 2021, Surprise Billing and Price Transparency Update. The following includes a selection of audience questions that our attorneys received during and after the webinar. We revised to avoid duplicate responses and to redact any identifying names/information within these questions and answers. The webinar is available on our website for on-demand viewing. Make sure you are also signed up for our alerts to receive information... READ MORE

On August 3, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova penned a blog post warning merging companies against closing transactions before the FTC has concluded its review. Citing a “tidal wave” of merger filings that has stretched the FTC’s limited resources, the agency will issue form letters alerting merging... READ MORE

NATIONAL 10 numbers that show US hospital staffing strains 30% of US hospitals mandate vaccination for employment American Society of Anesthesiologists condemns AANA name change Amazon, Olive team up to bring cloud automation to 950 hospitals As COVID-19 vaccine mandates grow, so are requests for religious exemptions – USA Today Biden administration invests $19M... READ MORE

Hall Render recently hosted a webinar on July 12, Effectively Navigating the Changing Landscape: COVID-19 Vaccination Strategies for Health Care Employers. The following includes a selection of audience questions that our attorneys received during and after the webinar. We made a few additional modifications to avoid duplicate questions and responses and also decided to... READ MORE

On July 23, 2021, CMS published its proposal for changes to its Medicare Part B payment policies for calendar year 2022, including proposed changes for teaching physician billing. In addition, in the same proposed rule, CMS published a proposal to modify the reporting relating to teaching hospitals under the Open Payments system. This article... READ MORE

On April 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) posted Advisory Opinion No. 21-02 (“Advisory Opinion”), a favorable opinion involving an ambulatory surgery center (“ASC”) joint venture and related safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”). This opinion is significant for many reasons, including: It is... READ MORE