Articles and Blogs

On June 7, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it would launch an inquiry into the business practices of the nation’s six largest pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”). The inquiry will investigate the impact of vertically integrated PBMs on the access and affordability of prescription drugs. This news comes at a time when... READ MORE

Our Health Care Real Estate Briefing is your comprehensive summary of weekly health care real estate highlights happening across the nation. A number of stories involving hospitals and health care providers made the news last week. Our headline story includes a summary of health care trends that the consulting firm Sg2 published. The report... READ MORE

NATIONAL As skilled nursing ‘teeters,’ leaders look to DC for help on pay rule and more CMS updates Medicaid eligibility standards Consumers have changed the ways they interact with healthcare after the pandemic FTC looks to restrict use of noncompetes HHS sounds alarm about ‘most dangerous malware’ threat targeting healthcare Lawmakers introduce bill criminalizing... READ MORE

Our Health Care Real Estate Briefing is your comprehensive summary of weekly health care real estate highlights happening across the nation. 1. The North Carolina Senate passed a bill that partially repeals its Certificate of Need (“CON”) law for facilities in rural areas and for certain medical specialties. The bill is headed to the... READ MORE

NATIONAL 4 benefits of behavioral health partnership for hospital performance AHA presses for False Claims Act probes to target payers over Medicare Advantage denials ASCs fight to recruit staff as jobless claims hit historic low CMS has cited 69 hospitals for noncompliance with worker vaccine mandate Court OKs denying coverage for mental health, substance-use... READ MORE

Our Health Care Real Estate Briefing is your comprehensive summary of weekly health care real estate highlights happening across the nation. Last week, North Carolina legislators proposed a bill that would alter the state’s Certificate of Need (“CON”) program. If passed, the bill would make it easier for certain providers to open new health... READ MORE

A recent decision from the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted employers some modest flexibility in conducting and relying on background checks for potential new hires covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). The court made two key rulings: Employers have no obligation under the FCRA to provide job applicants with the... READ MORE

Our Health Care Real Estate Briefing is your comprehensive summary of weekly health care real estate highlights happening across the nation. Legislators and government agencies are looking for ways to deliver care in new settings. Last week, three U.S. Senators proposed a bill that would create a pilot program that would explore funding the... READ MORE

NATIONAL 5 things to know about HHS OIG’s patient harm report $15 million program will tackle behavioral health barriers in LTC AMA, organizations launch effort to apply equity lens to patient care AHA responds to report on hospitals’ requested price hikes to insurers AHA asks HHS to continue the public health emergency until conditions... READ MORE

On May 10, 2022, CMS published its proposed revisions to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System for 2023. CMS proposed two changes that would affect reimbursement for graduate medical education (“GME”) programs at teaching hospitals. First, CMS proposed to update the way that it calculates direct GME (“DGME”) payments for fellows in some training programs,... READ MORE