Articles and Blogs

On November 16, 2012, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan released an 80 page opinion granting Summary Judgment in favor of St. Mary Mercy Hospital in the case Brintley v. St. Mary Mercy et al (No. 09-cv-14014). The plaintiff was a former physician at St. Mary Mercy who had her…Read More

Hall Render has learned that Texas Republican Kevin Brady will become the new Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommitee in Washington, D.C. The 7-term representative of the 8th District northwest of Houston is currently Chairman of the Trade Subcommittee and the third most senior member of the full Ways and Means Committee. He…Read More

Hospitals Lobby Congress on Doc Fix Hospital groups were on the Hill this week lobbying members to protect their current level of Medicare reimbursements.  A recent proposal from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”), which advises Congress on Medicare payment policy, would lower the hospital payments to the amount a physician would receive in his…Read More

On November 27, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released its Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2012 Semiannual Report to Congress (“Report”) for the second half of FY 2012.  The Report describes some of the OIG’s major achievements related to the OIG’s enforcement, audit, evaluation and compliance work during…Read More

Did Daughter Really “Need to Care for” Mom in Las Vegas? A jury is going to decide the winner of this game.  Recently a district court in Illinois denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment when it fired an employee who traveled with her mother to Las Vegas in order to “care for” her terminally ill mom. …Read More

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will soon be distributing a free toolkit to nursing facilities, CMS Regional Offices, and State Survey Agencies. Hand in Hand is a high quality training series for nursing homes that emphasizes person-centered care for persons with dementia, as well as the prevention of abuse. Section 6121 of the…Read More

Discrimination Laws Don’t Apply to Religious “Ministers” In the realm of employment law, the “ministerial exception” prohibits the application of federal anti-discrimination laws to claims concerning the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministers.  Exactly who qualifies as a minister under the ministerial exception is being determined by the courts on a case-by-case…Read More

The hospital industry is consolidating.  Dramatic changes in health law, an increasing squeeze on hospital reimbursement, large capital costs required to provide sufficient information technology support and, in many cases, aging physical plants are factors motivating hospitals to consider affiliating with other hospital systems or entities.