Articles and Blogs

The new Tax Reform Act (the “Act”) contains numerous changes to the Internal Revenue Code that will affect tax-exempt hospitals and other health care organizations. Leaders of these organizations should begin 2018 by giving careful attention to the new restrictions and planning opportunities to avoid adverse consequences later. Repeal of Individual Mandate Beginning in... READ MORE

NATIONAL Physician job growth varies greatly by region, report finds HHS OIG Report Cites Concerns with MACRA Implementation 4 healthcare revenue cycle trends to watch in 2018 OCR revamps HIPAA guidance in wake of opioid crisis, 21st Century Cures rules Physician pay increased in 2017 as demand grew, according to study 2017: A Look... READ MORE

NATIONAL MedPAC finalizes recommendation to repeal MIPS WSJ: Ascension, Providence St. Joseph in merger talks Dignity Health announces merger with Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives Optum’s MedExpress and Walgreens team up on urgent care Improve communication, save time in practice with these methods 5 most interesting health IT partnerships this week Politics don’t change our... READ MORE

Under the federal Stark Law, hospitals may provide non-monetary compensation to physicians up to an aggregate amount of $407 for calendar year 2018. 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 $34 per occurrence. Other... READ MORE

On November 28, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) rescinded Advisory Opinion 06-04, which had been issued in 2006 to Caring Voice Coalition (“Requestor”), a nonprofit, tax-exempt, charitable organization. Requestor operated a patient assistance program (“PAP”) that provided financially needy Medicare beneficiaries with Medicare premium and cost-sharing... READ MORE

Since the Senate approved the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act last Saturday, December 2, the tax reform process has turned to the appointment of a conference committee. This committee must reconcile the Senate version of the bill (“Senate Bill”) and the version that the House of Representatives passed in November (“House Bill”), with the goal of... READ MORE

NATIONAL For CMS Head, Improving Interoperability is Personal CVS agrees to buy Aetna in $69 billion deal that could shake up health-care industry Teladoc sees more than 100% growth in health systems, hospitals CMS takes aim at regulatory reforms to ease provider burden Amazon cancels pharma license application in Maine, raising more questions about... READ MORE

NATIONAL House Reps Aim to Stop $1.6B Hospital Payment Cut for 340B Drugs House asks HHS for plan on including bill of materials for medical devices Counting the costs: U.S. hospitals feeling the pain of physician burnout CAHs speak out against cuts to swing beds in Medicare extenders bill 13 health systems leading employment... READ MORE

On November 1, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its Calendar Year 2018 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) final rule. Among many other changes, CMS finalized its proposal to remove total knee arthroplasty (“TKA”) from the CMS inpatient-only (“IPO”) list. Effective January 1, 2018, CMS will no longer require... READ MORE

NATIONAL How are states faring with value-based payment initiatives? AMA launches efforts to help physicians harness health data VA moves to digitize health records with $158M contract Amazon to regulators: We won’t use state licenses to sell prescription drugs MACRA: The Yardstick for Quality that Health Systems Need AMGA: 10 median salaries by medical... READ MORE