Articles and Blogs

House and Senate Committees Advance CHIP Funding After Congress missed the September 30 deadline to renew funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”), both the House and Senate worked to advance bipartisan CHIP legislation this week. The Senate Finance Committee advanced a bill, known as the Keep Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure (“KIDS”) Act,…Read More

NATIONAL Which ASC company has grown the most in 2017? Five questions on healthcare following Price’s resignation Pence protégé seen as frontrunner to replace Price Congress moves toward funding lapsed federal children’s health insurance program 3 things to know about HHS Acting Secretary Dr. Don Wright 18 things to know about the 6 CEOs leading…Read More

On September 6, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Survey and Certification (“S&C”) Memo 17-44 with new guidance to State Survey Agencies pertaining to the application of the Medicare statutory definition of  “hospital” and whether a hospital is “primarily engaged” in the provision of inpatient services. CMS clarified that a hospital…Read More

On September 13, 2017, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a $4 million settlement with a New York-based hospital owner that owns and operates two hospitals in New York. The qui tam lawsuit was filed July 15, 2013, and the relator was an employed physician at one of the hospitals implicated in the lawsuit (the…Read More

In Michigan, as in many other states, a nonprofit charitable organization must satisfy rigorous requirements to qualify for real and personal property tax exemptions. In Baruch SLS, Inc. v. Tittabawassee Twp., the Michigan Supreme Court recently upheld the landmark Wexford case while clarifying one of Wexford’s six factors to qualify for property tax exemptions. The Wexford…Read More

On September 30, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services notified hospitals participating in the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (“CJR”) model of certain reporting requirements related to financial sharing arrangements with CJR collaborators (i.e., physicians and other providers who work with CJR hospitals to improve quality and cost performance). The notice, which was…Read More

On Wednesday, September 28, 2017, the Trump administration and the so-called “Big 6” revealed an outline for tax reform entitled “Unified Framework For Fixing Our Broken Tax Code.” The Big 6 include Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul…Read More

No Deal for Repeal: Congress Considers Next Steps On September 26, Senate leadership announced they would not hold a vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the ACA. The vote was called off after Republicans realized they would not reach the requisite 50 votes needed to pass the legislation prior to the September 30 deadline….Read More

NATIONAL Price to stop private plane use on business during review Evaluating the future of hospital acquisitions of private practices Senate Republicans Say They Will Not Vote on Health Bill Trump vows another healthcare vote next year, eyes executive order 4 financial, strategic and revenue cycle issues health systems are facing CMS postpones October hospital…Read More

In 2016, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (“SAMHSA”) National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that 11.8 million people misused opioids, including prescription pain relievers and heroin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2016 is estimating that drug overdose deaths, most of them due to opioids, will exceed 60,000….Read More