Articles and Blogs

Starting today, January 19, 2021, health care organizations nationwide must comply with new regulations aimed at modernizing and streamlining key regulations under the federal Stark and Anti-Kickback Statutes. As we’ve noted in our prior alerts and content, the impact of these new regulations will be significant. The new regulations show that CMS and OIG have…Read More

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) was signed into law on December 27, 2020 and recasts the Medicare hospice survey requirements and establishes new Medicare enforcement options and procedures. The Act’s hospice provisions generally track those contained in the Helping our Senior Population in Comfort Environments, also known as the HOSPICE Act, which was…Read More

Late last month, as part of its 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act (the “Act”), Congress appropriated $249,950,000 in additional funds to the highly demanded COVID-19 Telehealth Program (the “Program”) established by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). The FCC is seeking public comment, with the initial comment period ending on January 19, 2021, on how to implement…Read More

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced that the United States recovered over $2.2 billion from False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases in the federal fiscal year 2020. While this is a decrease from the previous year’s recoveries, and likely related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most recent figures are still on par with DOJ recoveries…Read More

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published numerous updates to its rules for graduate medical education in 2020, many of which take effect in the early part of 2021. This client alert is part one of our three-part series giving insight into these CMS changes and more recent statutory changes. Moonlighting Rule Made…Read More

Over the last year, health care providers (“Recipients”) have received billions of dollars in relief fund payments from the Provider Relief Fund (“Relief Fund”) created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) signed into law in March. Recipients of Relief Fund payments are required to comply with certain auditing and reporting…Read More

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently adopted its Final Rule (the “Final Rule”) modifications to the Stark Law aimed at modernizing and clarifying various regulations. Two such changes are universally relevant, but particularly so for those who practice in the health care real estate realm. For an overview of all changes in…Read More

Increasing numbers of hospitals and health systems are addressing social determinants of health in order to advance the health status of their communities. Among these efforts, the development of affordable housing is regarded as a key to improving the physical and mental health of a community’s low-income population. Consequently, many hospitals and health systems, either…Read More

On November 20, 2020, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued final rules (the “Final Rules”) revising and expanding exceptions and safe harbors under the federal Stark Law (“Stark”) and Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) as part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ “Regulatory Sprint to…Read More