Articles and Blogs

Diversified Healthcare Trust (DHC) will merge with Office Properties Income Trust (OPI) in an all-stock transaction. DHC owns 379 health care properties valued at an estimated $7.1 billion. OPI owns 160 general office properties with a $577 million market cap. Optum is now in the business of providing loans to physician practice groups. This is another way Optum... READ MORE

NATIONAL 6 health systems using GPT and AI tools 100,000 nurses left industry during the pandemic, report finds AHA backs bill to delay Medicaid DSH cuts by 2 years AHA launches info hub for healthcare quality leaders AHA opposes MedPAC recommendations to Congress on site-neutral, Part B drug, wage index policies AHA ramps up... READ MORE

The FFY 2024 IPPS Proposed Rule (“Proposed Rule”) was released on April 10, 2023, and CMS published the associated tables on its website.  The Proposed Rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register on May 1st.  This year CMS is proposing to implement a change to its rural floor wage index policy... READ MORE

On April 12, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to strengthen privacy protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) for reproductive health care. The proposed rule builds on the previous guidance... READ MORE

NATIONAL 94% of Organizations Experienced a Cyberattack in 2022 AHA blog: Strengthening crisis management in rural health care Biden signs bill ending Covid-19 national emergency Cancer drug shortages are creating dire circumstances for some patients CMS Releases FY24 IPPS Proposed Rule, Seeks to Boost Rates by 2.8% CMS issues FY 2024 proposed rule for... READ MORE

The nation’s fifth-largest health system operator, Advocate Health, has developed a new strategy of cutting costs through staff attrition (rather than layoffs) and has delayed some capital projects. In response to recent economic challenges, Advocate also said it will reduce its leased space footprint by about 65% over the next four years. In the... READ MORE

Fannie Mae published an Economic and Housing Outlook Report highlighting the possibility of a modest recession being “pushed back” from Q2 to the year’s second half. The report points to the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures as an early sign of moderate economic contraction that is expected later this year. According to... READ MORE

NATIONAL AHA, AHCA warn CMS against unfunded nursing home staffing mandates AHA to Congress: Funding rural hospitals is critical for access AHA-supported bill to aid small rural hospitals reintroduced in Senate Biden won’t veto Republican-led bill ending COVID emergency CVS-branded hospitals? What’s next for company after Signify acquisition Is CMS pushing procedures away from... READ MORE

Borrowers of tax-exempt debt across the country with outstanding bond issuances tied to the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) are working to amend their financial instruments to account for the cessation of the rate’s publication after June 30, 2023. To address and limit the anticipated impacts associated with the cessation of LIBOR, the Treasury... READ MORE

With yet another criminal wage-fixing indictment filed this week, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) signaled its continued commitment to prosecuting anticompetitive conduct affecting the U.S. labor markets, including within the health care industry. On March 16, a federal grand jury returned an indictment that charges a health care staffing executive... READ MORE