Articles and Blogs

While the holidays are upon us and many are traveling over the valley and through the wood, the Wisconsin Department of Quality Assurance (“DQA”) has issued a notice reminding health care providers that there is no time off from the reporting requirements under Wisconsin Statutes §457.25(1). This statute, and several like it, apply to... READ MORE

The 21st Century Cures Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on November 30, 2016 with a 392 to 26 margin and passed the U.S. Senate on December 7, 2016 with an 85 to 13 margin. The $6.3 billion health care bill is expected to be signed by President Obama on December 13, 2016.... READ MORE

On December 8, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) posted the final Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) approved version of the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (“MOON”) on its Beneficiary Notices Initiative website. CMS indicated that hospitals and critical access hospitals (“CAHs”) are required to provide the MOON to applicable patients... READ MORE

On December 7, 2016, the Senate passed the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34) (“Cures Act”), which, among many other changes, revises Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (“Section 603”) to provide an exception for off-campus provider-based departments (“PBDs”) that were mid-build or under development prior to November 2, 2015. The... READ MORE

On December 6, 2016, the Michigan House unanimously passed Senate Bill 753, which incorporates provisions related to telehealth into the Michigan Public Health Code (the “Code”). The bill adds six sections to the Code to permit health professionals to provide telehealth services after obtaining informed consent from patients. Additionally, the bill sets standards for... READ MORE

On December 7, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released a final rule (“Final Rule”) codifying new safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and new exceptions to the beneficiary inducement provisions of the Civil Monetary Penalties law (“CMP”). In the Final Rule, OIG focused its efforts... READ MORE

On December 7, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) clarifying several exceptions to the Civil Monetary Penalties law (“CMP”) dealing with beneficiary inducements. OIG has finalized all of the beneficiary inducement CMP exceptions proposed in the October 2014 proposed rule (“Proposed... READ MORE

Effective today, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a Policy Statement regarding gifts of nominal value to Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries (“Beneficiary(ies)”). In its statement, OIG increased the dollar amount of the “nominal value” exception to the Civil Monetary Penalties law (“CMP”) from $10 per item or... READ MORE

On November 22, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) reported its thirteenth settlement for 2016 related to a malware infection at a workstation that infiltrated the entire system of a covered entity that had elected to be a hybrid entity. The incident resulted in the impermissible... READ MORE

In recent years, increasing numbers of municipalities have asked health care entities that might otherwise be exempt from property taxes to enter into payment in lieu of taxes agreements (“PILOTs”). While most prevalent in the Northeast Region of the country, PILOTs are expanding in popularity nationwide as municipalities seek to expand their budgets by... READ MORE