Articles and Blogs

Executive Summary On April 16, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) released Report A-05-12-00020 entitled “Medicare and Beneficiaries Could Save Billions If CMS Reduces Hospital Outpatient Department Payment Rates For Ambulatory Surgical Center-Approved Procedures To Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Rates” (“Report”) – a Report title that... READ MORE

Executive Summary On March 10, 2014, the Indiana Board of Pharmacy (“Board”) issued guidance regarding pharmacists’ “corresponding responsibility” in relation to the Medical Licensing Board’s new emergency rule concerning prescribing controlled substances for pain management treatment (“Rule“).1 The Board’s Corresponding Responsibility Guidance (“Guidance“)2 clarifies that the Rule does not place any new requirements on... READ MORE

On April 22, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that it reached settlements with two covered entities arising from alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy and Security Rules.  Both settlements involve the theft of unencrypted laptops and follow investigations in which the Office for... READ MORE

During the recently concluded 2014 tax filing season, it appears that an unusually large number of health care professionals in Indiana, as well as several other states, were victims of an increasingly common form of identity theft: tax return refund fraud.  Even though the 2014 tax filing season has ended, all taxpayers, and especially... READ MORE

Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration continues its efforts to communicate, address and refine questions and issues related to the upcoming Medicaid coverage changes.  READ MORE

Executive Summary The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released an April 2014 report sharing the results of its investigation of home health agencies’ (“HHAs'”) face-to-face documentation.  The report details both the manner and method of OIG’s investigation and a number of its findings.  OIG noted that 32% of the home health claims did not have the... READ MORE

Executive Summary April 16, 2014 is National Healthcare Decisions Day. The goal of the day is to encourage Americans to think and talk about their health care goals and communicate their health care decisions by executing advance health care directives.  READ MORE

Wisconsin has joined the ever-increasing number of states legislating against employers’ access to employees’ and applicants’ social media sites.  On Tuesday, April 8, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed the Wisconsin Social Media Protection Act, 2013 Wisconsin Act 208 (the “Act”), into law, which prohibits both public and private employers, regardless of size, from requesting... READ MORE

On Tuesday, April 8, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed three bills that are of particular interest to the health care industry.  READ MORE

Executive Summary Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit released a decision related to Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital (“DSH”) payments that has the potential to be a significant victory for hospitals appealing the Part C Medicare Advantage Days issue.  At issue was whether such days would be included in... READ MORE