Articles and Blogs

Value-Based Purchasing Comes to Home Care On Monday, July 6, CMS issued the pre-publication copy of the proposed FY 2016 Home Health PPS Rule (the “Proposed Rule”).  The Proposed Rule will impose further cuts to home health reimbursement.  This is done in part through a continued application of the Affordable Care Act rebasing, which CMS…Read More

On July 1, 2015, amendments to Indiana’s wage assignment and wage payment laws went into effect.  These amendments allow for additional employee paycheck deductions and also reduce the potential damages to be charged against an employer for making an improper deduction. Changes to the Wage Assignment Statute Sometimes, as a matter of convenience, an employee…Read More

Executive Summary On July 8, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule addressing many potential modifications to the Stark Law (“Proposed Rule”),1 as well as separate guidance for physician-owned hospitals relating to the required Annual Ownership/Investment Report (“Reporting Guidance”).2  The Proposed Rule, if implemented as currently proposed, would update the…Read More

Overview On July 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule pertaining to payment policies under the Physician Fee Schedule for CY 2016 (“Proposed Rule”).1 In addition to changes to the Physician Fee Schedule and other Medicare Part B payment policies, the Proposed Rule addresses modifications to the Stark Law…Read More

This week, CMS released the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule for CY 2016 (“Proposed Rule”).  In an effort to ensure that billing physicians/practitioners have a “personal role in, and responsibility for, furnishing services for which they are billing and receiving payment as an incident to their own professional services,” CMS proposed to remove the…Read More

Proposed Physician Fee Schedule Contains Significant Stark Law Revisions Late on July 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published the Physician Fee Schedule for 2016 in the form of a proposed rule.  While the measure would make changes to the Physician Fee Schedule and other Medicare Part B payment policies, it also…Read More

“Incident to” billing is a significant False Claims Act risk for Medicare and Medicaid providers. A new proposed rule will change how physicians and physician practices are supposed to bill for services provided in their offices. CMS Proposal to Limit Incident to Billing This week CMS released the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule for…Read More

Overview On July 8, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule pertaining to payment policies under the Physician Fee Schedule for CY 2016 (“Proposed Rule”).1  In addition to changes to the Physician Fee Schedule and other Medicare Part B payment policies, the Proposed Rule also addressed many potential modifications…Read More

A recent court decision had highlighted two issues on the cutting edge of health care and False Claims Act (“FCA”) law. Both address what happens in the transition from health care advice to health care litigation. The first is the application of the attorney client privilege and the advice of counsel defense. The second is the…Read More

Executive Summary On June 30, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued draft guidance delaying the enforcement of key track and trace requirements of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (“DSCSA”) for Dispensers1 until November 1, 2015 (“Guidance”).  Specifically, the FDA indicated that it does not intend to take action against Dispensers that accept…Read More