Articles and Blogs

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

Under the federal Stark Law, hospitals may provide non-monetary compensation to physicians up to an aggregate amount of $398 for calendar year 2017. 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 $33 per occurrence. Other requirements of... READ MORE

Driven in part by retroactive fees imposed upon pharmacies by pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) and compounded by recent high profile cases of significant price increases for relatively common drugs,1 both retail and institutional pharmacies have continued to push for enhanced prescription drug pricing transparency. Recent state and federal legislation, as well as lawsuits filed by coalitions... READ MORE

On November 14, 2016, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification for use with all new hires. The new version (dated 11/14/2016) will be required for all employers on January 22, 2017. Until that date, employers may continue to use the older version (dated 03/08/2013),... READ MORE