Articles and Blogs

UPDATE – January 19, 2016: Although both houses of the New Jersey legislature passed the measure mentioned in this post, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie subsequently pocket vetoed the measure. Legislators at the state and local levels are reportedly continuing their efforts to craft a legislative solution to clarify hospital property tax exemptions in New…Read More

Last year, as part of the CY 2015 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) Final Rule (“Final Rule”), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finalized a policy implementing new coding and billing requirements related to services furnished in off-campus provider-based departments of hospitals.  These new requirements, which are discussed in more detail below, involve…Read More

Congress Passes Spending Bill On December 18, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the omnibus spending bill.  Prior to midnight on December 15, the House revealed the details of the FY16 omnibus appropriations package, which funds the federal agencies and programs through September 30, 2016.  The White House has indicated it intends to sign the…Read More

Executive Summary Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a $256 million settlement with one of the nation’s largest urine drug testing (“UDT”) laboratories (“Lab”).  According to a False Claims Act (“FCA”) complaint in intervention filed by the U.S., from January 1, 2008 through May 20, 2015, the Lab “systematically” billed the federal health…Read More

Hall Render Participates in House-Senate Expert Roundtable on Stark Law Reform On December 10, the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees convened a select group of outside experts for a roundtable discussion on Stark Law reform. Hall Render Shareholder and Health Law Practice Group Leader Gregg Wallander joined former CMS officials, Stark Law regulation authors…Read More

Executive Summary Under the federal Stark Law, hospitals may provide non-monetary compensation to physicians up to an aggregate amount of $392 for calendar year 2016, remaining the same from the previous calendar year.  The dollar limit for 2016 “medical staff incidental benefits” (e.g., meals, parking and other items or incidental services that are used on…Read More

Executive Summary Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released its Work Plan for Fiscal Year 2016 (“Plan”).  The Plan provides insight into OIG’s potential audit and enforcement activities for the next fiscal year.  While the Plan addresses several different provider types, this article addresses the Plan’s initiatives related…Read More

Senate Approves ACA Repeal On December 3, the Senate approved a bill (H.R. 3762) that repeals major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) by a vote of 52-47. The Senate used a budget rule known as reconciliation to pass the bill without the usual 60-vote threshold. The bill would repeal the ACA’s Medicaid expansion…Read More

Executive Summary On November 6, 2015, the FTC challenged the proposed acquisition of St. Mary’s Medical Center by Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia on the grounds that the proposed acquisition would create a “natural monopoly” and violate the federal antitrust laws. In its complaint, the FTC alleged that the proposed acquisition is likely…Read More

With the arrival of December, the deadline for full compliance with most aspects of Internal Revenue Code Section 501(r) is now just one month away for many tax-exempt hospital organizations. The specific deadlines will vary, however, based upon a hospital’s tax year and other factors. Hospital leadership should take this opportunity to confirm the applicable…Read More