Articles and Blogs

April 16, 2012 is National Health Care Decisions Day. The goal of the day is to encourage Americans to think and talk about their health care goals and communicate their health care decisions by executing advance health care directives. Across the United States, health care providers, professionals, chaplains, attorneys and others will focus attention on…Read More

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky held that the wife of a nursing home resident was contractually bound through a nursing home admissions agreement to apply for Medicaid benefits on behalf of her husband and who failed to do so, could not discharge the amount due to the nursing home…Read More

On March 30, 2012, the EEOC published its final rule providing guidance on the applicability of an important employer defense to claims of disparate impact under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”).   The ADEA prohibits employment discrimination against people who are 40 years of age or older.  The rule applies to private employers with…Read More

On March 16, 2012, CMS published the long-awaited Supplemental Security Income (SSI) ratios used in computing Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments for Federal Fiscal Years (FFYs) 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. This should finally end the cost report settlement moratorium implemented by CMS in July 2008 and lead to a flood of Notices of…Read More

Employers frustrated by employees who fail to report to work after their FMLA benefits have expired may be in luck!  Earlier this year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland held that an employer may terminate an employee who fails to report to work on his return-to-work date.

On April 6, 2012, CMS issued a Survey and Certification Transmittal stating that when a Home Health Agency (“HHA”) deactivates its provider number (the provider number is now referred to as the CMS Certification Number or CCN), the HHA must be surveyed for compliance with the CMS Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for HHA’s if the…Read More

In May of 2011, the Indiana Court of Appeals rendered its opinion in Robertson (Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund “Fund”) v. B.O., et al. 949 N.E.2d 404 (Ind. Ct. of App. 2011). The central issue in the case was whether the Fund can introduce evidence concerning the existence and compensable nature of plaintiff’s damages after plaintiff…Read More

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.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently posted on its website two Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (“SRDP”)…Read More

In a surprise reversal, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has dropped a controversial proposed regulation that would require nursing homes to hire independent pharmacists to oversee residents’ medication regimens. The proposed rule had been developed in response to the belief that relationships between long-term care providers and pharmacy suppliers could conflict with…Read More

CMS has released its statistics for the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program for activity from January 2011 through February 2012.  Highlights of the report are: Over 211,500 eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) have registered for the Medicare and/or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs since January 2011; Over 20,000 registered…Read More