Articles and Blogs

Executive Summary On November 20, 2014, President Obama announced the Immigration Accountability Executive Action, a series of steps directed toward reforming the United States immigration system.   As part of these initiatives, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) Director León Rodríguez announced yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) is extending eligibility for... READ MORE

On February 23, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a rule change to be issued February 25, 2015 that ensures that all eligible employees in same-sex marriages will enjoy the same rights and protections under the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) as employees in opposite-sex marriages. READ MORE

A clearly irate Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment granted on behalf of Shell Exploration and Development Company, for the second time, and remanded with an order that the case be assigned to a new judge. In United States ex rel. Little v. Shell Exploration the Fifth Circuit, for the second time, reversed the trial... READ MORE

A recent case out of the Northern District of Illinois Federal Court, US ex rel. Oughatiyan v. IPC the Hospitalist Company, Inc., demonstrates the high risk inherent in evaluation and management (E&M) coding for health care providers. READ MORE

Executive Summary In response to the 2012 meningitis outbreak traced to tainted injections compounded by the New England Compounding Center, OIG recently published a study entitled “Medicare’s Oversight of Compounded Pharmaceuticals Used in Hospitals: OEI-1-13-0040” (“Study”).  OIG made the following findings: State survey agencies and accreditation agencies (e.g., The Joint Commission, HFAP, DNV, Center... READ MORE

This month’s announcement of the recent Anthem Data Breach sent shockwaves through the health care industry with some experts referring to 2015 as the “year of the health care hack.” Those who collect and store health data have been racing to strengthen security protocols and to understand their risk exposure. In a first-of-its-kind case in... READ MORE

Hall Render is pleased to announce associate attorney Lisa Lucido, J.D., has joined the firm’s Detroit office. Lucido practices in the area of health law with a focus on supply chain structure and operations, compliance counsel and corporate transactions. She completed her undergraduate studies at Michigan State University in 2010 and received her J.D.... READ MORE

Hall Render is pleased to announce associate attorneys James Junger, J.D., and Sarah Semrow, J.D., have joined the firm’s Milwaukee office. Junger focuses his practice on electronic health records, general business transactions & services, hospital & physician transactions, pharmacy & pharmacy benefit management, reimbursement appeals & litigation and teaching hospitals & graduate medicine education.... READ MORE

CMS Delays Final Rule on Collecting Medicare Overpayments On Tuesday, February 17, CMS announced through the Federal Register that it will postpone until February 16, 2016 the implementation of a proposed rule that would require Medicare providers under Parts A and B of Title XVIII to return overpayments within 60 days. CMS first proposed the rule, which... READ MORE

OIG recently issued Advisory Opinion 15-02, which clarified OIG’s position on when federal health care program payments to an excluded individual could be permissible. The proposed arrangement involved a physician who had an ownership interest in a group medical practice. The group practice billed federal health care programs for services the physician performed before... READ MORE