Articles and Blogs

The ONC has made available on its website (healthit.gov) a variety of resources to assist those working toward Meaningful Use.  Below are links to a few of these resources: Click here for information on attestation, tipsheets, FAQs, tools and regulations related to Meaningful Use Stage 2. Click here to access the 2014 Edition Test Method…Read More

Executive Summary In Masri v. LIRC, 2012AP1047 (April 2, 2013), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by the Labor and Industry Review Commission (“LIRC”) that Wisconsin’s Health Care Worker Protection Act (“HCWPA”) applies only to employees of health care facilities and that an unpaid intern is not an employee for purposes of the…Read More

Proposed Reporting Rule for Charity Hospitals Released On April 3, the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Treasury published a proposed rule on the health care law’s community health needs assessment requirements for charitable hospitals, related excise tax and reporting requirements, and the consequences for failing to complete them.

On Wednesday, April 3, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released a new round of Proposed Regulations that expand upon, and address uncertainties regarding, the requirements of Code Section 501(r) applicable to tax-exempt hospital organizations. These new Proposed Regulations provide guidance on the community health needs assessment requirements and related excise tax and reporting obligations. Notably,…Read More

OFCCP continued its courtesy of providing advance notice to companies it plans to schedule for affirmative action compliance reviews.  OFCCP mailed the notices, known as Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters (“CSALs”), on March 27, 2013.  Consistent with its recent practice, the notices are addressed to the “Human Resource Director” at local establishments as opposed to the…Read More

Often times when an employee is at home while on an approved FMLA leave, work-related questions will arise that only the employee can answer.  So, the manager or a co-worker will call the employee at home and get the answer.  Usually that’s not a problem – but it could be depending on how often the…Read More

By Drew B. Howk In U.S. v. Anchor Mortgage Corp., the Seventh Circuit held that treble damage calculations under the FCA must be calculated from the net losses, rather than the gross losses, suffered by the Government. For defendants in FCA litigation, this decision not only affects the potential damages for an adverse judgment but also the relative…Read More

By David B. Honig and Andrew B. Howk In U.S. v. MedQuest, the Sixth Circuit held that violations by a provider of conditions of participation in Medicare were insufficient as a matter of law to “trigger the hefty fines and penalties created by the FCA.” This case was a reaffirmation by the Sixth Circuit that…Read More

Senate Passes FY 2014 Budget Resolution On March 23, the U.S. Senate voted 50-49 to pass a fiscal year 2014 budget resolution that would reduce Medicare spending by $275 billion over 10 years but does not include structural entitlement reforms.  The $275 billion in cuts to Medicare were unspecified reductions aimed at cutting waste and…Read More

Following the recent CMS Administrator’s Ruling CMS-1455-R, CMS issued a Program Transmittal with claims processing instructions related to the rebilling of denied inpatient claims under the interim rebilling policy.  A corresponding article intended for hospitals was released on March 22, 2013 and can be found on the CMS website here.