Articles and Blogs

CMS issued the CY 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule on November 2, 2021, to include some minor expansion of coverage for telehealth services. Importantly, the general statutory coverage restrictions related to rural areas and defined originating sites will again be in place following the end of the Public Health Emergency (“PHE”) unless... READ MORE

On November 4, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) released its highly anticipated new Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) requiring companies with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccination of their employees. In addition to the OSHA ETS, CMS simultaneously released its Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) regarding COVID-19 vaccination for covered facilities that receive... READ MORE

On November 4, CMS released its Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals working in Medicare- and Medicaid-participating facilities, as well as individuals working in certain other settings involving face-to-face interactions with patients.  The IFR requires all clinical and non-clinical personnel working within a Medicare and Medicaid participating facility or other applicable... READ MORE

On September 30, 2021, the Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Labor and Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management (collectively, the “Departments”) published the second interim final rule implementing certain provisions of the No Surprises Act (“Part II of the IFR”). Part II of the IFR addresses key aspects of the No... READ MORE

On September 30, 2021, the Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Labor, and Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management (collectively, the “Departments”) published the second interim final rule implementing certain provisions of the No Surprises Act (“Part II of the IFR”). Part II of the IFR addresses key aspects of the No... READ MORE

NATIONAL 4 potential pitfalls lie ahead for OSHA’s vaccine mandate, say experts A look at the most expensive hospital projects this year CEOs share their views on the ‘Great Resignation’: 5 takeaways CMS overpaid $636M to ASCs, HOPDs for neurostimulator implantation surgeries, audit finds CMS penalizes 2,499 hospitals for high readmissions Designing the post-Covid... READ MORE

The health care industry has experienced significant increases in cyber-attacks such as ransomware the past few years. One segment of the industry that may be impacted especially hard by these increased attacks is Critical Access Hospitals (“CAHs”). Due to the increasing number of cyber-attacks, insurance underwriting practices are shifting. Instead of virtually rubberstamping each application... READ MORE

NATIONAL 15 people in healthcare among Forbes’ 400 richest people in America 256 hospitals warned about violating CMS price transparency rule AMA recognizes 44 systems for clinician burnout efforts Healthcare has lost half a million workers since 2020 Hospitals have spent more than $3B getting PPE during pandemic Mayo, Kaiser rally 11 systems to... READ MORE

On October 7, 2021, five years after issuing initial draft guidance on its enforcement approach for hospitals and health system pharmacy compounding under section 503A of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the “Act”), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released revised draft guidance (“Draft Guidance”) that provides increased flexibility to hospitals and health... READ MORE

The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) released multiple key Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”) updates over the past four weeks, which include opening a new application for additional PRF funding. The new funding application process and other updates are discussed in more detail below. Practical Takeaways The applications... READ MORE