Articles and Blogs

Health care real estate assets are often referred to as being located “on-campus” or “off-campus.” While real estate market participants may differ in their criteria for referring to a property as on- or off-campus, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) defines a hospital campus in the provider-based regulations at 42 C.F.R. §... READ MORE

On December 14, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released a report on fraud statistics regarding recovery amounts for False Claims Act (“FCA”) violations in fiscal year 2016 (“Report”). Reaching $4.7 billion from settlements and judgments, this year’s recovery is the third highest annual recovery in FCA history. Health care fraud accounts for a... READ MORE

On December 20, CMS posted for public inspection a final rule establishing three new Episode Payment Models (“EPMs”). Two of the EPMs pertain to cardiac care. The third EPM pertains to orthopedic care.  CMS will officially publish the rule on January 3, 2017. The Cardiac-Related EPMs The first cardiac-related EPM is for episodes of... READ MORE

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued Advisory Opinion 16-11,1 which provided a favorable opinion of a Medicare Supplemental Health Insurance plan’s (the “Plan’s”) proposed arrangement (the “Arrangement”) through which a preferred hospital network would offer Plan policyholders (“Policyholders”) who elect to use a network hospital for... READ MORE

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued Advisory Opinion 16-12, determining that a proposed arrangement for a laboratory to provide test tube and specimen collection container labeling to dialysis facilities had the potential to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”). Background The requesting laboratory (“Requestor”) provides certain laboratory... READ MORE

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