Articles and Blogs

Your vendor just sent you a quote to let you obtain the software that you need, and it contains a link to the vendor’s standard terms and conditions. If it’s a seven-figure or eight-figure deal, one can assume that the vendor had the good sense to send you an editable version of the contract and…Read More

Is judicial approval required for accepted Rule 68(a) offers of judgment in Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) cases? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently said “no” and, in doing so, contradicted at least part of a longstanding view that settlement of all FLSA matters requires either approval by the U.S. Department…Read More

On December 12, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced the second settlement under its “Right of Access Initiative.” A health care company that provides primary care and interventional pain management services (“Provider”) will pay $85,000 and enter into a Corrective Action Plan (“CAP”) to settle potential violations…Read More

Give and Take: CMS Announces Repayment for 2019 Site-Neutral Cuts Yet Announces Same Cuts for 2020 This week, CMS announced that any hospital paid a lower amount for a routine clinic visit in 2019 due to implementation of the site-neutral payment policy will automatically be paid the difference from the older, higher amount. CMS began…Read More

Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that 3 charities will pay a total of $10 million to settle claims that the charities operated as conduits for illegal kickbacks to pharmaceutical companies. The industry-wide probe also implicated several pharmaceutical companies that, according to the DOJ, improperly used charitable foundations as a way to assist…Read More

House and Senate Panels Announce Surprise Billing Fix On December 8, leaders from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (“HELP”) and House Energy and Commerce committees announced an agreement on surprise billing legislation. The proposal is intended to end surprise billing of patients by creating a new system of dispute resolution that includes arbitration….Read More

For the fifth time, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (“CCBHCs”) have received a short-term funding extension with Congress’ last-minute passage of a temporary government-wide spending bill. Funding for CCBHCs in this extension runs through December 20, 2019. This measure was signed into law late on November 21, just in the nick of time as this…Read More

Recently, the Indiana Supreme Court clarified the judiciary’s inability to add terms to an impermissibly broad nonsolicitation agreement, even if specifically requested in the agreement itself. Background When the terms of a noncompetition or nonsolicitation agreement are disputed, parties often ask courts to determine whether the terms are reasonable. Indiana courts administer this task by…Read More