Articles and Blogs

Last month, HHS issued final rules on “essential health benefits” required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”).  Those rules are important for the future of state and federal health insurance exchanges because they finalize the rules with which insurance companies must comply in providing benefits to their insureds.  However, these essential health…Read More

McKnight’s published an article this morning on the rise in Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in long-term care facilities.  The Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) states these bacteria kill about half of all people who become infected, and are resistant to antibiotic treatments.  These CRE bacteria are even resistant to the antibiotics “of last resort” and can transfer their…Read More

On February 26, 2013, Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey, announced his support of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid Expansion.  Christie is the eighth Republican governor to announce support of the expansion for his/her state.  The Medicaid Expansion will be fully funded by the federal government for the initial three years of the program. …Read More

On January 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) formally published its Omnibus Final Rule (“Final Rule”), which includes modifications to the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”).  Because the Final Rule covers a…Read More

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has unofficially announced it will not be enforcing the upcoming March 23rd compliance program requirements until final regulations are published.  As required under the Affordable Care Act, nursing facilities are required to have a compliance program in place by March 23, 2013.  Despite ambiguity in the actual statute, which…Read More

Competing Sequester Alternatives Rejected On February 28, the U.S. Senate rejected competing sequester replacement proposals killing the last legislative options prior to the spending cuts going into effect on March 1. The Senate voted on both a Republican and Democrat plan designed to help the parties position themselves after the budget cuts begin to take effect.

The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) is seeking comments on a draft guidance entitled “Design Considerations for Devices Intended for Home Use.”  The draft guidance urges manufacturers to “design out” product risks and consider usability and training for medical devices intended for use in a home environment.  The deadline for submitting comments on the document…Read More