Articles and Blogs

On March 3, 2020, the Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a $100,000 settlement with a physician practice (“Practice”) that it found to be significantly out of compliance with the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). While OCR was investigating the Practice’s complaint against a…Read More

HHS Releases Finalized Interoperability Rules The long-awaited final rules from CMS and HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”) were released this morning. The agencies unveiled final versions of companion interoperability and information-blocking proposals. The ONC rule implements Conditions and Maintenance of Certification requirements for health information technology developers. The CMS…Read More

On March 2, 2020, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case directly challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”),[1] but it is likely that the fate of ACA will not be decided before the 2020 presidential election. In Texas v. United States[2], multiple plaintiffs challenged the ACA in the District Court for…Read More

On March 4, 2020, the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum entitled “Suspension of Survey Activities” (“QSO Memo”) to announce that it is suspending non-emergency inspections across the United States so that inspectors may focus on infectious diseases and abuse. CMS states this will…Read More

In a matter of first impression, the Third Circuit yesterday held that conflicting medical opinions can create a genuine dispute of material fact as to the element of falsity in a False Claims Act action.[1] Facts of the Case In U.S. v. Care Alternatives, relators alleged that Care Alternatives, a hospice facility, “admitted patients who…Read More

On February 26, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board issued its final rule establishing the standard for determining whether two employers are joint employers under the Act (“New Rule”). History of Joint Employer Standard As explained by the NLRB, a joint employer finding has significant implications for rights and obligations under the NLRA relative to…Read More

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear ACA Validity Case Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a third major Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) case. The Court will consider whether a legislative change to the ACA’s individual mandate rendered the landmark law unconstitutional. Learn more from a recent Hall Render article here. By granting petitions from democratic…Read More

On February 11, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C.) Circuit upheld the decision of a lower court granting summary judgment in favor of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) in a wage index calculation Medicare reimbursement case. The Court held that the Secretary’s refusal…Read More