Articles and Blogs

On July 18, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published final regulations titled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Revision of Requirements for Long-Term Care Facilities: Arbitration Agreements” (“Final Regulations”) to Part 483 to Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations the Requirements for States and Long-Term Care Facilities. The Final Regulations revise…Read More

In the recently issued Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule for Calendar Year 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) proposed several revisions to its Stark Law advisory opinion process. These proposed revisions follow CMS’s receipt of several stakeholder comments in response to its Request for Information Regarding the Physician Self-Referral Law published on…Read More

Recently, the D.C. District Court ruled that HHS must include certain waiver programs in its Medicare disproportionate share calculations. This is a significant ruling because many states have experimented with different ways to provide health care to low-income populations. As a result, hospitals serving these populations may be entitled to increased payments.[1] Background Under §…Read More

A federal district court in Nashville, TN has entered a summary judgment dismissal of a former Human Resources Director’s discrimination and retaliation claims. The case is significant because it explores the line between offensive social conduct that does not violate Title VII and adverse employment action that does. Discrimination Marie Hasting’s lawsuit asserted that Title…Read More

Recently, Lyft announced that its ridesharing service is now considered a covered benefit under the Arizona Medicaid program. This announcement follows implementation of new Arizona Medicaid regulations allowing ‘”rideshare”‘ companies to enroll as non-emergency medical transportation providers. Under the policy, participating Medicaid patients can request to schedule non-emergency medical transportation to ensure access to routine…Read More

Last week, a federal district court in Illinois entered judgment for Defendants in an FCA action against a self-proclaimed “one stop shop” health care referral management company, alleging anti-kickback and FCA violations for its arrangement with a care coordination organization for low-income seniors.[1] Originally filed in 2016, this case highlights how even an FCA case…Read More

On July 10, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) voted unanimously to move forward with its new $100 million telehealth initiative, which seeks to bring telehealth services to low-income Americans, veterans and medically underserved communities. In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC detailed its proposed telehealth initiative rules and anticipated program requirements. As currently envisioned,…Read More

On July 29, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its proposed rule for Calendar Year (“CY”) 2020 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“Proposed Rule”). Among many other changes, CMS proposed three key payment policy updates impacting hospital outpatient departments, including: (1) lowering the supervision standard for hospital outpatient therapeutic services from…Read More