Articles and Blogs

Massive FY 2020 Funding Bills Loaded with Health Care-Related Provisions Just hours before another looming government shutdown, President Trump signed a two-part spending deal funding federal agencies that include CMS, FDA and NIH, among others. The funding bill contains several significant health policy provisions. Most notably, it will repeal three taxes enacted as part... READ MORE

Under the federal Stark Law, hospitals may provide non-monetary compensation to physicians up to an aggregate amount of $423 for calendar year 2020. The dollar limit for “medical staff incidental benefits” (e.g., meals, parking and other items or incidental services that are used on the hospital’s campus) is less than $36 per occurrence. Other... READ MORE

On December 11, 2019, the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality/Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum to State Survey Agency Directors entitled “Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Mission & Priority document (MPD) – Action” (“FY 2020 Memo”) that announced its work and intentions for the fiscal... READ MORE

This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) rescinded a nearly 22-year-old policy opposing mandatory arbitration agreements in employment discrimination disputes imposed as a condition of employment. The 1997 Policy In 1997, the EEOC took the position that “agreements that mandate binding arbitration of discrimination claims as a condition of employment are contrary to... READ MORE

NATIONAL Where the AMA stands on 7 of the year’s biggest health care issues Why digital health has been such a disappointment, and how to change that 106 hospitals, health systems that launched telehealth services in 2019 64 hospitals that planned, opened or broke ground on ASCs in 2019 CMS to Repay Site-Neutral Payments... READ MORE

NATIONAL CMS Administrator Seema Verma scoffs at hospital execs’ arguments against transparency Hospital employed physicians see 7% drop in compensation for 2018: 14 statistics to know Physician Compensation Programs Move Toward Value-Based Pay Standalone hospitals in the M&A era: 3 CFOs to watch Optum’s ‘city by city’ healthcare strategy 3 ASC leaders forecast 2020... READ MORE

Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that 3 charities will pay a total of $10 million to settle claims that the charities operated as conduits for illegal kickbacks to pharmaceutical companies. The industry-wide probe also implicated several pharmaceutical companies that, according to the DOJ, improperly used charitable foundations as a way to... READ MORE

NATIONAL 8 major CMS changes to take effect in 2020 2 physician payment model advisers abruptly resign from MACRA committee 8 hospital construction projects worth $1B or more in 2019 Mandatory CMS radiation oncology model goes on the backburner More than 600 hospitals sue over Medicare payment reductions 7 hospitals across 4 states will... READ MORE

Recently, the Indiana Supreme Court clarified the judiciary’s inability to add terms to an impermissibly broad nonsolicitation agreement, even if specifically requested in the agreement itself. Background When the terms of a noncompetition or nonsolicitation agreement are disputed, parties often ask courts to determine whether the terms are reasonable. Indiana courts administer this task... READ MORE

When an entity merges with or acquires another business, the parties to the transaction face a variety of issues. When attempting to sort out some of the more-dominant deal points (e.g., ever-changing regulatory requirements, successful employee integration, preferred methods of financing, etc.), many entities inadvertently overlook other details that, despite being seemingly routine, could... READ MORE