Articles and Blogs

Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Secretary Alex Azar announced on Thursday, November 8, 2018 that HHS intends to reconsider some of the episode-based payment models that it withdrew almost one year ago. According to Secretary Azar, HHS is exploring new and improved episode-based payment models, including a mandatory bundled payment model for radiation oncology.[1]... READ MORE

A recent decision from a U.S. District Court in Wisconsin held that the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) claim brought by the former employee of an assisted living center could not be dismissed. The outcome and the facts are instructive for other health care employers. The former employee of the assisted living facility,... READ MORE

Have you ever asked or been asked, “What can I put away for my retirement next year?” The answer could be different for almost every year. Most of the limitations in the Internal Revenue Code are indexed with inflation. They increase in many years but not all. The IRS and Social Security Administration have... READ MORE

Several states require that any sale of charitable assets must be reviewed by the attorney general to assess whether the sale is for fair consideration and in the best interests of charitable beneficiaries. The New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau (“Charities Bureau”) is responsible for supervising charitable organizations to protect donors and beneficiaries of... READ MORE

On November 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its final rule for the Calendar Year (“CY”) 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (“MPFS Final Rule”). Among many other changes, CMS finalized maintaining payments for certain non-excepted (non-grandfathered) off-campus provider-based hospital departments (“PBDs”) at 40 percent of the Outpatient Prospective Payment... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation proposed to lower the cost of Medicare Part B outpatient prescription drugs by establishing their prices based on lower drug prices of other advanced industrial nations as compiled in an “international price index” (“IPI”) and changing the way the current drug... READ MORE

The November 6, 2018 midterm elections will be remembered for a lot of things, including the wave of marijuana legalization that followed after polls closed. A majority of voters in Utah and Missouri endorsed ballot initiatives that legalized the medicinal use of marijuana in both states. Michigan, for its part, became the first Midwest... READ MORE

NATIONAL DJO launches 1st outpatient arthroplasty risk assessment tool Hospitals slammed with $380M in CMS cuts, industry cries foul CMS finalizes site neutral payment rule AHA says payer consolidation, not hospital prices, raises healthcare costs 3 changes potentially coming to HIPAA OCR Announces Next Round of HIPAA Audits Will Focus on Enforcements CMS Publishes... READ MORE

On November 8, 2018, CMS released a letter to clinicians regarding E/M documentation and coding reform. This follows the CY 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule intentions to reduce burden on clinicians in furtherance of the agency’s “Patients Over Paperwork” initiative. Effective January 1, 2019, CMS will: Simplify the documentation of history and exam... READ MORE

On September 7, 2018, the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued a revised draft Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) that would govern interstate dispensing and distribution of “inordinate amounts” of compounded prescription drugs by certain compounding physicians and pharmacies. The concept of this MOU first appeared in the Compliance Policy Guidance issued by... READ MORE