Articles and Blogs

On November 20, 2024, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued new Industry Segment-Specific Compliance Program Guidance For Nursing Facilities (“Nursing Facility ICPG”) for nursing home members of the health care compliance community. Motivating factors for issuing the Nursing Facility ICPG included long-standing issues such... READ MORE

On October 7, 2024, the United States Supreme Court denied review of a Second Circuit decision limiting the “willfulness” requirement for liability under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) to knowledge that one’s actions are unlawful. The Second Circuit rejected the argument made by the plaintiff relators in U.S. ex rel. Hart v. McKesson (“Hart“)... READ MORE

NATIONAL Amazon’s push into telehealth knocks shares of Hims & Hers America’s Rural Hospital Crisis Has Been Looming for Decades AMA lawsuit targets collusion in health care pricing CMS Unveils Major Changes for Nursing Home Surveys for 2025 DEA, HHS issue another extension for telehealth controlled substance prescribing Donald Trump taps TV personality Dr.... READ MORE

The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that most skilled nursing facilities (“nursing homes”) in Massachusetts that it surveyed are not correctly complying with life safety requirements or emergency preparedness requirements. OIG recently issued a report on its audits of life safety requirements or emergency... READ MORE

On November 7, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) that added a new condition of participation for home health agencies (“HHA”) to participate in Medicare under the “Medicare Program; Calendar Year (“CY”) 2025 Home Health Prospective Payment System (“HH PPS”) Rate Update” for the calendar... READ MORE

On November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a final rule (“Final Rule”) that calls for Medicare-certified and Medicaid-certified nursing homes (“LTC Facilities”) to electronically report information on acute respiratory illnesses, including influenza (“flu”), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (“SARS-CoV-2”)/coronavirus 2019 (“COVID”) and respiratory syncytial virus (“RSV”). Effective Date... READ MORE

On November 5, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) extended the due date to complete and submit the new Form CMS-855A SNF Disclosures Attachment for every Skilled Nursing Facility (“SNF”). CMS announced that regardless of when the SNF received its notice of revalidation letter from its MAC (i.e., October, November or... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) is reinforcing regulatory expectations regarding nursing home residents’ rights to vote. On September 26, 2024, CMS issued a QSO Memo, “Compliance with Residents’ Rights requirement related to Nursing Home Residents’ Right to Vote.” CMS reminds nursing homes of the regulatory expectations that residents of nursing homes... READ MORE

Effective October 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) introduced significant updates to the CMS-855A form, specifically requiring a new Skilled Nursing Facility (“SNF”) Attachment for every SNF. These changes, following the implementation of regulations finalized in November 2023, impact how SNFs disclose detailed ownership and management information. The adjustments stem... 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