Articles and Blogs

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

NATIONAL 68% of patients with mild case of COVID-19 get new diagnosis within 6 months, CDC finds 7 big ideas in healthcare innovation 455 hospitals with 5 stars from CMS: 2021 As Opioid Deaths Surge, Biden Team Moves To Make Buprenorphine Treatment Mainstream Biden’s first 100 days: 5 healthcare actions Biotech and medical device... READ MORE

The FFY 2022 IPPS Proposed Rule (“Proposed Rule”) was released on April 27, 2021, and CMS published the associated tables on its website. In addition, the Proposed Rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register on May 10. The release of the Proposed Rule and the accompanying tables triggers the start of... READ MORE

On April 8, 2021, the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum entitled “Updates to Long-Term Care (LTC) Emergency Regulatory Waivers Issued in Response to COVID-19” (“Blanket Waiver Update Memo”) that announced the termination of several blanket waivers for skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) related to resident... READ MORE

NATIONAL 7 reimbursement updates for ASCs, key insights 2 health systems pause J&J vaccinations after adverse patient reactions 4 health systems appointing inaugural diversity, equity leaders 5,800 COVID-19 infections detected among 77 million fully vaccinated people: CDC 5 supply chain updates for ASCs AHA head: Pandemic aid isn’t enriching most hospitals; they are struggling... READ MORE