Articles and Blogs

On Friday, January 27, 2017, President Trump signed a third executive order dealing with immigration titled, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” The provisions contained in the order impose a 90-day ban on entry for all nationals of seven named countries. The order also imposes a halt for all U.S….Read More

Review of the New Home Health Conditions of Participation – Patient Rights. This is the fourth article in a series discussing CMS’s Final Revised Home Health Conditions of Participation (“Final CoPs”). With the release of the Final CoPs, CMS is finalizing the significant changes they proposed to make to the home health CoPs in October…Read More

On January 18, 2017, Senate Bill 33 (“SB 33”) was introduced in the Michigan Senate by Senator Kenneth Horn (R – Frankenmuth). SB 33 would amend the Michigan penal code by imposing felony charges against any individual who assaults, batters, wounds, resists, obstructs, opposes or endangers emergency room personnel performing their duties. The current law…Read More

Trump Signs Executive Order Intended to Expedite ACA Repeal Process Hours after being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump  signed an executive order that marks his administration’s first step towards unraveling the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The order instructs all agencies in the executive branch to “waive, defer, grant exemptions…Read More

On January 23, 2017, following a 13-day trial, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (the “Court”) ruled in favor of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in the government’s suit to block the $37 billion insurance mega merger between Aetna Inc. (“Aetna”) and Humana Inc. (“Humana”). It is expected that a decision…Read More

As you may know, President Trump signed a pair of executive orders recently regarding immigration policies and enforcement. While his orders may have a sweeping effect on immigration as a whole, employment-based immigration processes are not overtly changed. Below is a brief summary of provisions of the executive orders and the draft order that may…Read More

Review of the New Home Health Conditions of Participation – Infection Control and Prevention; Skilled Professional Services; and Home Health Aide Services. This is the third article in a series discussing CMS’s Final Revised Home Health Conditions of Participation (“Final CoPs”). With the release of the Final CoPs, CMS is finalizing the significant changes they…Read More

The Federal District Court for the Middle District of Florida appears  to have rejected recent direction from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal to deny a motion to dismiss in a False Claims Act case. In United States ex rel. Napoli et al. v. Premier Hospitalists PL, et al. the whistle-blowers alleged a hospitalist company…Read More

On December 27, 2016, CVS Pharmacy (“CVS”) filed suit against the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (the “Commission”) in the District Court of Travis County, Texas. The suit claims that regulators at the Commission specifically approved of certain billing practices that the Commission’s Office of Inspector General is now claiming constitute false claims. Specifically,…Read More

On December 21, 2016, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed Public Act No. 379 of 2016 that updates provisions of the Michigan Public Health Code (the “Code”) related to the practice of physician assistants (“PAs”). The updated law now allows a PA to practice without the supervision of a delegating physician or podiatrist by entering into…Read More