Articles and Blogs

Mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry present unique challenges that are not often present when undertaking similar transactions in other industries.  Because of health care’s highly regulated nature, parties may falter if a health care transaction is not reviewed and negotiated carefully with respect to the distinct concerns that health care presents. This…Read More

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) updated its Provider Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”). The latest revisions are dated May 26 and 29, 2020 and June 2, 2020 and include new FAQs and modifications to existing FAQs. A Hall Render alert on those revisions and updates is here. HHS added FAQs specific…Read More

On May 21, 2020, Hall Render published “Providers Beware: Avoiding the Pitfalls in Regulatory Flexibilities and Relief Funds.” On May 26, 2020, OIG published “OIG Strategic Plan: Oversight of COVID-19 Response and Recovery.” To those who follow health care compliance and enforcement issues closely, the OIG document should come as no surprise. Over the past…Read More

Tuesday, June 2 Update Our Federal Advocacy Team is dedicated to providing frequent COVID-19 updates as they develop. Going forward, these updates will be distributed as developments warrant instead of nightly. These updates along with other resources can be found ​on the COVID-19 ​Resource ​Center page ​of Hall Render’s website​. Note – ​we believe this is the…Read More

As expected COVID-19 related litigation steadily increases, a lawsuit recently filed in the Northern District of Indiana presents a novel approach regarding the potential applicability of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) to large employers who are otherwise not covered under the FFCRA. The employer, with more than 500 employees, was not a…Read More

The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) continues to update its Provider Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”). The latest revisions are dated May 26 and 29, 2020 and include new FAQs and modifications to existing FAQs. HHS also modified two of the FAQs by deleting potentially significant language without marking those FAQs as…Read More

As Safer-at-Home transitions to Safe-at-Work, two new issues have emerged for employers: (1) Can I require everyone to return to the workplace?; and (2) What new operational considerations are presented as my employees return? The General Duty Clause of the Occupational Health Safety Act, historically the stepchild of employment safety standards, is suddenly front and…Read More

As Shelter-in-Place Orders are relaxed, employers are able to resume varying degrees of pre‑COVID‑19 operations subject to a myriad of state, county and sometimes city government recommendations and/or requirements. However, covered employers remain subject to the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLA”). Both of these…Read More

On May 29, 2020, CMS published its 2021 IPPS Proposed Rule (“Proposed Rule”). If adopted, the Proposed Rule would change CMS’s funding methods for graduate medical education (“GME”), giving additional flexibility to hospitals that train residents who are affected by a hospital or residency program closure. Comments on the Proposed Rule are due on July…Read More

In a March 20, 2020 letter to HHS Secretary Azar, 340B Health, a membership organization consisting of more than 1,400 nonprofit hospitals in the 340B drug pricing program, advised the Secretary that its member hospitals fear the COVID-19 public health emergency could have a “material impact” on hospital admissions and payor mix, which, in turn,…Read More