Articles and Blogs

On August 1, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2012 Final Rule for Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System on its website. For FFY 2012, Providers will receive a net total increase of 1% to the standardized amount.  This... READ MORE

SUMMARY On June 24, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia released a decision in Auburn Regional Medical Center v. Sebelius.  The decision reversed an unfavorable district court decision ruling that statutory deadlines to file appeals with the Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB) were not subject to the doctrine... READ MORE

Late last week, a wide-ranging initiative to update federal human research protection regulations was announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House Office for Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) through issuance of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), which aims to catch the regulations up to... READ MORE

On May 4, 2011, we issued a bulletin alerting hospital clients that the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) Office of Audit Services was in the process of sending numerous Contact Letters to hospitals across the country in an effort to verify their levels of compliance with Medicare billing requirements.  As part of this audit,... READ MORE

On July 5, 2011, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) published a Proposed Rule (“Proposed Rule”) notifying the public of DoD’s pending implementation of a revised TRICARE payment methodology for Sole Community Hospital (“SCH”) inpatients.  This revised payment methodology is an important development since, once it is fully phased in, it will likely result in... READ MORE

The Wisconsin State Assembly recently passed a bill allowing Wisconsin residents to carry concealed weapons anywhere in the state, except as prohibited by statute or under certain other limited circumstances.  In order to lawfully carry a concealed weapon, residents must apply and be deemed eligible for a license.  A weapon, for purposes of this law,... READ MORE

In February, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) shed additional light on their proposed rule that changes how lease agreements are treated for accounting purposes. The proposed rule, originally published in an exposure draft on August 17, 2010, treated all lease agreements as capital lease agreements for accounting purposes. The proposed... READ MORE

On July 7, 2011, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Notice 2011-52 (“Notice”) to address the community health needs assessment (“CHNA”) requirements described in section 501(r)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). These CHNA requirements apply to hospital organizations that are, or seek to be, recognized as tax-exempt under... READ MORE

The Federal Trade Commission, with the concurrence of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, announced on July 7, 2011 revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Premerger Notification Rules.1 The new Rules expand the categories of documents to be produced, delete certain data requests and make several ministerial changes, all in an effort to focus... READ MORE

Effective July 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) adopted a revised Medicare Enrollment Application – Institutional Providers CMS-855A (CMS-855A). Some of the more significant changes are set forth below in italicized text: Formerly, page 1 of the CMS-855A stated, “WHO SHOULD SUBMIT THIS APPLICATION”; the revised CMS-855A states, “WHO SHOULD COMPLETE THIS APPLICATION.”Additional... READ MORE