Articles and Blogs

On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (together, the “Agencies”) released their finalized Merger Guidelines (the “Final Guidelines”). The Final Guidelines contain updates to the draft merger guidelines (the “Proposed Guidelines”) that the Agencies released in July 2023. The Final Guidelines are a significant... READ MORE

Under the federal Stark Law, hospitals, physician groups, labs and other provider entities may provide non-monetary (i.e., non-cash or cash equivalent) compensation to physicians up to an aggregate amount of $507 for calendar year 2024. The dollar limit for “medical staff incidental benefits” provided by a hospital to a member of its medical staff... READ MORE

NATIONAL 5 of Amazon’s most disruptive moves in 2023 A Fifth of US Hospitals Have Been Warned Over Secretive Prices CMS announces Medicaid maternal health grants CMS asks health plans, PBMs to ease up on independent pharmacies CMS Model Aims to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes, Access to Care CMS reopens No Surprises Act dispute... READ MORE

On November 17, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finalized its proposed rule (“Final Rule”), found here, implementing certain sections of the Affordable Care Act to require the disclosure of certain ownership, managerial and other information regarding Medicare-participating skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”) and Medicaid-participating nursing facilities (“NFs”). As previously summarized by... READ MORE

S&P Global Ratings published a sector view report on the nonprofit hospital sector, indicating the agency expects a constrained operating environment in 2024 largely due to persistently high labor and operating costs. Another factor behind the negative outlook is that health care providers are restarting deferred capital projects and potentially looking to debt to... READ MORE

Starting January 1, 2024, many privately-owned entities will be exposed to ongoing disclosure and reporting obligations required by the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The goal of the CTA is to strengthen national security and the integrity of the U.S. financial system by making it more difficult for illicit actors to use shell companies for... READ MORE

The Federal Reserve agreed to hold its benchmark interest rate while signaling that rate cuts may be in the cards for 2024. If economic conditions continue to improve, the Federal Reserve plans to reduce interest rates by .75% in 2024. After the news broke, the stock market rallied and real estate investors expressed new... READ MORE

NATIONAL AHA pushes back on HHS proposal to penalize hospitals for cyberattacks AHA urges Congress to oppose H.R. 5378 unless site-neutral cuts eliminated Bipartisan Congressional Caucus Addresses Payments to Rural Hospitals Cigna ends Humana merger talks, plans $10B stock buyback: WSJ Cigna still exploring Medicare Advantage sale: Report CMS: May take 3 years to... READ MORE

After a slow start to the year, the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (“OPDP”) now has a total of five enforcement letters for 2023 (four Untitled Letters and one Warning Letter) with potentially the last two letters of 2023 issued on Halloween. Our summary of the first three letters... READ MORE

Hospitalogy published a roundup of recent earnings reports for a number of health systems. Several large, nonprofit health systems experienced losses in the recently ended quarter, while CVS Health and other for-profit providers reported profits and earnings growth. A recent Bisnow article indicated that, despite showing more resilience than the general office sector, the... READ MORE