Articles and Blogs

Mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry present unique challenges that are not often present when undertaking 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 all of the components of health care regulation.... READ MORE

In April 2020, Hall Render published an article detailing state statutory, administrative and common law directives guiding commercial eviction and foreclosure actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two months later, the pandemic has far from subsided with many states reporting rising rates of new cases and experts predicting a second wave sometime in the fall,... READ MORE

CMS recently issued an update of a memorandum entitled “COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers” (“Blanket Waiver Memo”) that announced additional blanket waivers for providers, including hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”). The waivers have a retroactive effective date of March... READ MORE

On June 19, 2020, the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) announced its Final Rule[1] increasing the penalties assessable under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The DOJ raised the minimum penalty for a single false claim from $11,181 to $11,665; the maximum penalty from $22,363 to $23,331. Under the False Claims Act,[2] any person who... READ MORE

Recently the Fourth Circuit in U.S. ex rel Complin v. North Carolina Baptist Hospital, No. 19-1243, 2020 WL 3167634 (4th Cir. June 15, 2020) (per curiam) affirmed dismissal of a False Claims Act (“FCA”) complaint with prejudice, finding that the qui tam relator, Joseph Vincoli, failed to meet certain pleading requirements in both his... READ MORE

This latest installment of our series on HHS Provider Relief Funding focuses on the new Medicaid Targeted Distribution, the postponement of the July 10 reporting deadline and new and updated FAQs. Since our last Bulletin posted June 12, found here, HHS has posted 45 new or modified FAQs, including 20 dated June 25. Many... READ MORE

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) received a victory this week in the litigation challenging the agency’s final rule that requires hospitals to publicly disclose the prices they charge, as well as their specific reimbursement rates with third-party payers (“Price Transparency Rule”). The Price Transparency Rule is scheduled to go into effect... READ MORE

In the past few weeks, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) has issued several crucial decisions impacting union elections in the health care setting. At the close of April 2020, the Board declined to find that COVID-19 justified the stay of a union election at an acute care hospital. In its Order denying the... READ MORE

NATIONAL 18 ASCs acquired in 2020 so far 25 most environmentally friendly hospitals, ranked by Practice Greenhealth 42 hospitals closed, filed for bankruptcy this year 15 statistics on physician assistant pay in 2020 33 hospitals, health systems planning new ASCs this year AHA asks for COVID-19 public health emergency to be extended AHA News:... READ MORE

Skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) are facing many challenges as they reopen their communities to visitors. State health departments are issuing guidance on outdoor SNF visits and phased reopening of businesses. On June 24, 2020, CMS released visitor guidance in the form of several pages of FAQs “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Nursing Home Visitation”... READ MORE