Articles and Blogs

On June 27, in an anticipated move, the U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced that the Department of Labor (“DOL”) will reinstate the issuance of opinion letters. The letters were a practice of the DOL for more than 70 years until 2010 when they were eliminated during President Obama’s administration in favor of broader…Read More

On June 16, 2017, CMS issued transmittal S&C: 17-35-ALL. This transmittal clarified CMS policy by stating a reasonable assurance period will apply if a provider or supplier voluntarily terminates its Medicare certification when an enforcement action has been initiated by the State Survey Agency. Section 2016 of the State Operations Manual allows a provider or…Read More

On June 16, 2017, CMS issued transmittal S&C: 17-34-ALL. This transmittal set forth changes to the format of Plans of Correction (“POC”) and Allegations of Compliance (“AOC”). Providers will no longer be required to write their POC/AOC on the right side of the CMS Form 2567 (“2567”). Providers are now allowed to submit the POC/AOC…Read More

On June 26, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to review the current administration’s executive orders barring people from certain countries from entering the United States. The Court granted a stay of the executive orders in part but will allow some people to be stopped at the border under the executive orders while the case is…Read More

Senate Releases Draft ACA Repeal and Replace Bill On June 22, the Senate released its version of legislation that would repeal and replace significant portions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The 142-page discussion draft, titled the Better Care Reconciliation Act (“BCRA”), is the first legislative text released by Senate leadership to repeal the ACA,…Read More

In case you missed it, on June 16, the American Health Law Association released a comprehensive member briefing entitled “The OIG’s Resource Guide: An Important New Tool for Measuring Compliance Program Effectiveness”[1] (Compliance Program Briefing). The Compliance Program Briefing was authored by four Hall Render attorneys. A copy of the Compliance Program Briefing can be…Read More

Health system supply chain departments (and increasingly more C-suite leaders) appreciate the potential savings that standardization and centralization can generate for their organization given that 30 to 50 percent of their budget is associated with supply chain costs. However, implementing strategies and procedures, or even knowing where to start in order to generate these savings, can…Read More

CDC’s opioid prescribing guidelines prompt states to adopt quantity limits Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb recently signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 226 (SEA 226), which places limits on the opioid quantities that may be prescribed by state-licensed practitioners beginning July 1, 2017. Prescribing caps on opioids have gained increasing popularity following the March 2016 release…Read More

On May 17, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) introduced companion legislation (S. 1133) to the House bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) moratorium on physician-owned hospitals. Named the Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2017, the bill is the Senate’s version of legislation (H.R. 1156) previously introduced in the House…Read More

Senate GOP Still Without AHCA Legislative Text As the countdown to the July 4 recess continues, Republicans in the Senate continue to seek consensus within their party on health care reform legislation. However, as of this writing, rank-and-file Republicans still haven’t seen legislative text on their body’s version of the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”)….Read More