Articles and Blogs

AHA President Endorses Hall Render Stark Initiative During Congressional Hearing On Tuesday, January 21 and Wednesday, January 22, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a two-day hearing on the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) and other health-related initiatives.  During the hearing, Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) questioned AHA President Richard Umbdenstock, who was one of the…Read More

In light of the recent ruling that the revised companionship services exemption COULD NOT go into effect and that the long-standing version of the exemption would REMAIN IN EFFECT, we thought it was worth going back over the original exemption requirements so that home care providers can be sure that if they are going to use…Read More

Draft Bill Seeks to Increase Medicare Reimbursement for Telehealth On Monday, January 12, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft bill that would expand Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services.  The members intend to include the telehealth language into a broader package of legislation known as the 21st Century Cures Initiative, which could…Read More

This article is Part Two in a series discussing ten of the most noteworthy pronouncements from the Final Regulations regarding Code Section 501(r). Part One is available here.  In this second part of the series, Hall Render addresses five areas of significant developments pertaining to the requirements for the financial assistance policy (“FAP”), limitations on…Read More

In an opinion issued on January 14, 2015 in Home Care Association of America v. Weil1, the U.S. District Court ruled that the revised companionship service exemption would not take effect and that the exemption would remain as originally promulgated in 1974 (“the Opinion”).  This means that home care providers may continue to rely upon…Read More

Through the recently released Final Regulations, the IRS and Treasury Department have provided a road map for tax-exempt hospitals as they move toward full compliance with Code Section 501(r). As Hall Render previously reported, these Final Regulations track the prior guidance in many respects, but they also make numerous significant changes that hospital organizations must…Read More

House Passes Bill Redefining ACA’s Full-Time Work Week On Thursday, January 8, the House passed legislation changing the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) definition of a full-time work week from 30 to 40 hours.  The bill was sponsored by Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) and passed 252-172 with 12 Democrats supporting the measure.  The bill now moves…Read More

As Hall Render previously reported, the IRS released the long awaited Code Section 501(r) final regulations on December 29, 2014.  The significance of Code Section 501(r) and these final regulations for tax-exempt hospital organizations cannot be overstated as they represent the biggest change to the tax exemption criteria for hospitals since the IRS announced the…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 2015.  The dollar limit for “medical staff incidental benefits” (e.g., meals, parking and other items or incidental services that are used on the hospital’s campus) has been increased to less than…Read More

In December of 2014, Massachusetts finalized a state law that requires physicians to demonstrate proficiency in using EHRs and/or being a “meaningful user” under the Department of Health and Human Services’ Meaningful Use Electronic Health Record Incentive Program (“Meaningful Use Program”) as a condition of licensure. Massachusetts’ changes to the license requirements are another indication of how…Read More