Articles and Blogs

In State of Wisconsin v. Dawn M. Prado, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin affirmed the earlier 2020 decision of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (as detailed in a previous Hall Render article), to hold that a provision of Wisconsin’s “implied consent” law (see “Incapacitated driver provision”,  Wis. Stat. § 343.305), which permitted police to... READ MORE

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released updated Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”) Reporting Guidelines on June 11 and announced that PRF reporting will begin July 1, 2021. The latest updates follow a relatively quiet two-month period for the PRF but signal that the current administration is ready to move forward... READ MORE

NATIONAL 6 healthcare providers on this year’s Fortune 500 list 8 hospital mergers, acquisitions called off AAPA responds to medical groups’ opposition of rebrand AMA initiative explores challenges, real-world examples of virtual care As COVID wanes, state legislatures are limiting governors’ emergency powers. Why it matters Best and worst states for healthcare in retirement... READ MORE

We are just over six months from the effective date of the final rule implementing changes to the regulations impacting Stark “group practices.” CMS delayed the effective date to January 1, 2022, to allow practices time to revise their compensation methodologies and contractual arrangements consistent with the regulations at § 411.352(i). Hall Render attorneys... READ MORE

On April 27, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced roughly $1 billion in grants available to eligible community health centers through the Health Resources & Services Administration (“HRSA”) Health Center Program. As part of the American Rescue Plan, these grants are specifically designed to fund major construction and renovation projects... READ MORE

The Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) recently made funding available for multi-sector action plans that address social determinants of health (“SDOH”). The grant, titled “Closing the Gap with Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans”, is designed to support plans that involve governments, private businesses, non-profit and community organizations and health care organizations. The CDC... READ MORE

NATIONAL 200,000 VA patients’ health records found exposed online 6 drugmakers in violation of 340B statute, HRSA says CDC reshuffles COVID-19 response: 7 things to know COVID-19 vaccinations lagging in rural areas, CDC data shows Doctors and the dual-edged sword of virtual health HHS asks Supreme Court to keep site-neutral payment cuts in place... READ MORE

On April 27, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released new buprenorphine practice guidelines entitled, Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder (“Practice Guidelines”), that remove a longstanding requirement tied to practitioner training that has been cited as a barrier to treating larger numbers of individuals... READ MORE

NATIONAL 199 hospitals with 1 star from CMS: 2021 455 hospitals with 5 stars from CMS: 2021 Biden Nominates Former CMS Official as CMS Administrator CMS finalizes joint replacement pricing extension with input from medtech industry CMS pitches extra year of add-on payments for Stryker spine device CMS releases final rule on CJR model:... READ MORE

Most of the new changes to the federal Stark and Anti-Kickback Statutes went into effect on January 19, 2021. Since then hospitals, health systems and medical groups nationwide have focused on updating their physician contracting, compensation and compliance programs to align with the new regulations. This alert focuses on specific changes to the Stark... READ MORE