Articles and Blogs

Parties to litigation are often dismayed by its costs. Attorney fees alone can motivate the payment of handsome settlements even in meritless cases, and litigation costs tend to make traditional litigation unavailable, impracticable or uneconomical as a tool for individuals and organizations if substantial funds are not available or if the dispute is not worth…Read More

Health care experts are concerned the U.S. could face a “tripledemic” this winter if cases of Covid-19, the flu and RSV all surge at the same time. Some experts are concerned that hospitals may be overwhelmed as a result of staffing shortages. After Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida, communities continue to grapple with…Read More

Michigan voters are being asked whether to add a new section to the state constitution concerning “reproductive freedom.” Proposal 3 would initiate a new law (which can be read in full on the Secretary of State’s website) that would include the following: Proclaim that “every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails…Read More

Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center will receive more than $700 million from the Bezos family over the next decade. The donation will be used to fund several clinical trials, new research capabilities and recruitment. Pacific Group has broken ground on the $5 billion dollar Helios Health and Wellness campus in Las Vegas. This is the…Read More

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals emphasized, in affirming a district court’s ruling on a motion to dismiss, that a contract merely incorporating a statutory or regulatory payment provision by reference, without more, does not make all terms of the statutory and regulatory scheme material, express conditions of payment in False Claims Act cases. An…Read More

A remarkable 90% of survey respondents reported construction delays, according to National Multifamily Housing Council’s latest quarterly construction survey, with permitting and start delays being the main culprits. A lack of availability in construction financing is also a rising concern. 76% of respondents said that they have experienced deals repriced up over the last three…Read More

On September 20, 2022, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its resolution of three separate investigations against covered entity dental providers for violations of the individual’s right of access under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). This announcement follows the announcement…Read More

On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall along western Florida as a Category 4 storm, causing significant property damage, including to many health care facilities. Those damaged facilities include a hospital in Port Charlotte where winds from the hurricane tore open part of the roof for the intensive care unit and flooded the…Read More

HHS OIG issued a report finding “significantly reduced” improper payments to acute care hospitals, as compared with prior years. OIG found that $39.3 million in Medicare Part B payments should not have been made during 2016-2021, which was a decrease from $51.6 million in improper payments during 2013-2016. CMS has claimed that aggressive corrective actions…Read More