Articles and Blogs

Federal Judges Strike Down Trump’s Conscience Rule for Health Providers On Wednesday, a federal judge voided the Trump administration’s “conscience rule” that would have allowed health care providers to refuse to participate in abortions, sterilizations or other types of care they disagree with on religious or moral grounds. HHS issued the conscience rule in May,…Read More

On November 7, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that a Texas state agency (“State Agency”) will pay a penalty of $1,600,000 for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule and Security Rule. According to the Notice of Proposed…Read More

On November 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its final rule for the Calendar Year (“CY”) 2020 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“Final Rule”). Among many other changes, CMS finalized three key payment policy updates impacting hospital outpatient departments, including: (1) reducing payments for clinic visits at off-campus provider-based departments (“PBDs”); (2)…Read More

On November 6, 2019, a federal judge sitting in the Southern District of New York voided the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Final Conscience Rule (“Conscience Rule”) set to take effect November 22, 2019.[1] In its ruling, the Court vacated the Conscience Rule in its entirety nationwide. A federal judge sitting in…Read More

On November 5, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that a New York Medical Center (“Medical Center”) will settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) by paying a civil penalty of $3 million and entering into a Corrective Action Plan….Read More

On April 22, 2019, Governor Laura Kelly approved Kansas Senate Bill 15 (the “New Law”) into law. The New Law contains several changes to the Kansas change of ownership provision in the Kansas Adult Care Home Licensure Act (“Act”) and was effective May 9, 2019. Changes to Kansas’ Skilled Nursing Change of Ownership (“CHOW”) Laws…Read More

On October 30, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers reintroduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (“CONNECT”) for Health Act (S. 2741/ H.R. 4932). This legislation is intended to remove roadblocks to telehealth expansion in Medicare by giving providers the freedom to use alternative payment models and incentive programs, reducing geographic…Read More

Pharmacies, distributors and third-party logistics providers (“3PLs”) that ship prescription drugs into Alaska should take careful note of the new Alaska Board of Pharmacy regulations that took effect on October 31, 2019.[1] Among other elements, the rules: 1) now require licensure of nonresident wholesale drug distributors (“WDDs”), 3PLs and outsourcing facilities (“OFs”) to ship, mail or…Read More

Talk Is Cheap: Funding Negotiations Stall as Spending Deadline Approaches This week, the Senate had planned to begin deliberations on a legislative package that includes funding for the Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year (“FY”) 2020. However, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered the motion needed to begin the debate, it…Read More