Articles and Blogs

This installment of Hall Render’s Health Law Broadcast series on health care reform is designed to provide you with the insight, analysis and practical suggestions with respect to the various reform initiatives that will affect your organization.   Overview On December 21, 2011, CMS issued a notice soliciting applications for the Independence at Home (“IAH”) Demonstration,…Read More

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued revisions to the process Home Health Agencies (HHA) must undergo prior to initial certification.  The revised process adds an additional review of enrollment criteria performed by the Regional Home Health Intermediary (RHHI) or Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC).  

The Department of Labor published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in late December aimed at giving the nation’s nearly two million home care workers minimum wage and overtime protections.  These workers have long been working  under an exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as “companion” employees.  

What must a successful FCA defendant show to collect attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justic Act? Can an error by the government create an FCA violation by a defendant relying upon the government’s acts? Does Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. US ex rel. Stevens apply to FCA retaliation cases? Can a service…Read More

Executive Summary On December 14, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a long-awaited proposed rule, Transparency Reports and Reporting of Physician Ownership of Investment Interests (“Proposed Rule”), discussing the implementation of the physician payment “sunshine” provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), commonly referred to as the “Sunshine…Read More

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has again postponed the requirement for private employers to post notice of employee rights under the Nation Labor Relations Act (NLRA). See our previous analysis here, here, and here. Employers now have until April 30,2012 to post the required notice.  The board said it “has determined that postponing the…Read More

This past year has gone by rather quickly, and there has been a lot of activity in the employment and labor area – especially in the labor area! The National Labor Relations Board was particularly active with expansive rulings on employee use of Facebook and social media, walkouts, banners, rat balloons, hand billing, discussion of…Read More

On November 30, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published the CY 2012 OPPS/ASC Final Rule with comment period (“Final Rule”) that established a formal process for review and reconsideration of the supervision level assigned to certain outpatient therapeutic services furnished in hospitals and critical access hospitals (“CAHs”).  The Final Rule is…Read More

Summary On November 30, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published the CY 2012 OPPS/ASC Final Rule with comment period (“Final Rule”).  In the Final Rule, CMS revised provider agreement regulations addressing hospital and critical access hospital (“CAH”) patient notification requirements for situations where a physician is not present in the hospital…Read More

Summary On November 30, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published the CY 2012 OPPS/ASC Final Rule with comment period (“Final Rule”).  The Final Rule implemented a portion of Section 6001(a) of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) requiring CMS to develop a process for  physician-owned hospitals  to request an exception to the…Read More