Articles and Blogs

Hall Render is proud to congratulate its attorneys who have been selected to the 2017 Kentucky Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists. Gerald Stovall has been selected to the Kentucky Super Lawyers list and Brian Veeneman has been named to the KentuckyRising Stars list. Attorneys from over 70 practice areas are rated by Super Lawyers based on peer... READ MORE

Congress Passes 21st Century Cures Bill On December 7, the Senate passed the sweeping 21st Century Cures bill (H.R. 34), clearing the way for it to be signed into law. The Senate vote comes a week after House passage of the $6.3 billion medical research funding bill that makes comprehensive mental health reforms and... READ MORE

On December 8, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) posted the final Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) approved version of the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (“MOON”) on its Beneficiary Notices Initiative website. CMS indicated that hospitals and critical access hospitals (“CAHs”) are required to provide the MOON to applicable patients... READ MORE

On December 7, 2016, the Senate passed the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34) (“Cures Act”), which, among many other changes, revises Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (“Section 603”) to provide an exception for off-campus provider-based departments (“PBDs”) that were mid-build or under development prior to November 2, 2015. The... READ MORE

On December 6, 2016, the Michigan House unanimously passed Senate Bill 753, which incorporates provisions related to telehealth into the Michigan Public Health Code (the “Code”). The bill adds six sections to the Code to permit health professionals to provide telehealth services after obtaining informed consent from patients. Additionally, the bill sets standards for... READ MORE

On December 7, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released a final rule (“Final Rule”) codifying new safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and new exceptions to the beneficiary inducement provisions of the Civil Monetary Penalties law (“CMP”). In the Final Rule, OIG focused its efforts... READ MORE

On December 7, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) clarifying several exceptions to the Civil Monetary Penalties law (“CMP”) dealing with beneficiary inducements. OIG has finalized all of the beneficiary inducement CMP exceptions proposed in the October 2014 proposed rule (“Proposed... READ MORE

Effective today, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a Policy Statement regarding gifts of nominal value to Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries (“Beneficiary(ies)”). In its statement, OIG increased the dollar amount of the “nominal value” exception to the Civil Monetary Penalties law (“CMP”) from $10 per item or... READ MORE

On November 22, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) reported its thirteenth settlement for 2016 related to a malware infection at a workstation that infiltrated the entire system of a covered entity that had elected to be a hybrid entity. The incident resulted in the impermissible... READ MORE

Trump Nominates HHS Secretary and CMS Administrator On November 29, President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice to lead the top federal health care agencies.  Trump nominated Rep. Tom Price, MD, (R-GA) to head HHS and health care consultant Seema Verma as the next CMS Administrator.  Dr. Price currently serves as the House Budget Committee... READ MORE