Articles and Blogs

In May of 2020, we published an article on Managing Financial Covenants for Health Care Borrowers in a Pandemic (here). Managing financial covenants has only gotten harder for health care borrowers in the past two years. Costs have increased, governmental relief has largely ended and many health systems find themselves perilously close (or worse) to…Read More

Medical Properties Trust will lease its $1.2 billion Utah hospital portfolio to CommonSpirit Health following CommonSpirit’s acquisition of Steward Health Care System’s Utah operations. Centura Health will manage the facilities, and the lessee will have the option to purchase the facilities at the higher of FMV or MPT’s gross investment at 5, 10, and 15…Read More

In a move likely to ignite strident industry opposition, on January 30, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced finalization of its rule on Medicare Risk Adjustment Data Validation (“RADV”) audit methodology and resulting collection of overpayments from Medicare Advantage Organizations (“MAOs”). Experts estimate that the final rule will result in CMS…Read More

Background In a press release dated February 3, 2023, the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) announced the withdrawal of three important policy statements that health systems and providers have relied upon for decades in ordering operations, setting internal protocols, and conducting diligence during transactions. The three policy statements include, Department of Justice and FTC…Read More

When an entity first decides to undertake a new capital project, one of the most important decisions it will make is choosing what kind of financing method to use. A common option for 501(c)(3) organizations, including hospitals and health care systems, is to issue tax-exempt bonds, which are obligations of a state or political subdivision,…Read More

CVS Health announced plans to buy Oak Street Health for $9.5 billion in cash. Oak Street Health is a large primary care provider with 160 locations. CVS plans to grow the Oak Street business to 300 locations by 2026. Tower Health is planning to sell 17 urgent care centers in the coming months. The sale…Read More

*Updated on April 23, 2024. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced their intent to vote on a final rule that would ban most employers from entering into or enforcing noncompetes against workers and would require employers to rescind existing non-competes. The vote is planned during a special Open Commission Meeting on Tuesday, April 23…Read More

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently announced that it coordinated with law enforcement partners in launching a multi-state enforcement action dedicated to uncovering a massive fraudulent nursing diploma scheme. Referred to as Operation Nightingale, it has exposed an alleged scheme involving the sale of fake and fraudulent…Read More

On January 3, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released an updated Mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (the “Mifepristone REMS Program”), which reverses the requirement that the drug be dispensed directly to a patient by certified prescriber in a clinic or a medical office (the “in-person dispensing requirement”). The updated Mifepristone REMS…Read More