Articles and Blogs

Trump Administration Announces Plans to Weaken ACA On October 12, President Trump signed an executive order to overhaul health insurance regulations. The order instructs the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services to expand health coverage through inexpensive, short-term health plans exempt from current Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) insurance market rules. One mechanism…Read More

NATIONAL Survey: Healthcare execs name data analytics, population health among top challenges for 2018 10 Common Physician Compensation Mistakes Most hospitals tie doctor pay to productivity; new research examines how that impacts academic medicine Trump could make waves with health-care order CMS releases star ratings for Medicare Advantage and drug plans, Kaiser earns top marks…Read More

On September 7, 2017, the Second Circuit realigned its stance on false certifications under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in light of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S.Ct. 1989, 195 L.Ed.2d 348 (2016). Background In the initial action, relators brought a qui tam action under…Read More

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