Articles and Blogs

On July 27, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Covenant Medical Center v. Kennedy (“Covenant”) once again vacated a 2023 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) regulation that excluded inpatient days covered by an uncompensated care funding pool when counting Medicaid Days in the Disproportionate Share Hospital... READ MORE

This past week, the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS,” and together with the DEA, the “Agencies”) announced the release of three highly anticipated rules related to the prescription of controlled substances through telemedicine. These new rules include: A final rule on the “Expansion of Buprenorphine Treatment... READ MORE

On December 2, 2024, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) that amended the regulations relating to exclusion authorities under the authority of OIG. The Proposed Rule would codify changes made by the Medicaid Services Investment and Accountability Act... READ MORE

On November 20, 2024, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued new Industry Segment-Specific Compliance Program Guidance For Nursing Facilities (“Nursing Facility ICPG”) for nursing home members of the health care compliance community. Motivating factors for issuing the Nursing Facility ICPG included long-standing issues such... READ MORE

On May 6, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office for Civil Rights of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“Section 1557”) (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule went into effect on July 5, 2024. However, in Texas... READ MORE

On January 11, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a Final Rule entitled “Safeguarding the Rights of Conscience as Protected by Federal Statutes” (the “2024 Final Rule”). The 2024 Final Rule, which will take effect on March 11, 2024, seeks to clarify the mechanisms... READ MORE

On January 5, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) setting forth a proposed rule implementing various statutes that provide protections for health care providers and facilities who may have conscientious objections to certain forms of health care, such as... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published FAQ guidance on December 2, 2022, indefinitely extending the current enforcement discretion for non-compliance with the No Surprises Act requirement that Good Faith Estimates (“GFEs”) for uninsured or self-pay patients include expected charges from co-providers or co-facilities until future rulemaking is issued. Since January 1,... READ MORE

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights released guidance detailing how health care providers subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) can use remote communication technologies to provide audio-only telehealth services when such communications are conducted in a manner that is consistent with... READ MORE

Thursday, June 18 Update Note – ​ Our Federal Advocacy Team is dedicated to providing frequent COVID-19 updates as they develop. We believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time. These updates along with other resources can be found ​on the COVID-19 ​Resource ​Center page ​of Hall Render’s website​. To learn more about... READ MORE