Articles and Blogs

An Indiana hospital owns a medical building in Newburgh, Warrick County, Indiana (the “Property”) by way of a wholly-owned subsidiary that is an Indiana nonprofit corporation (the “Applicant”). The Applicant leases parts of the Property to its affiliates for the delivery of health care services. For the 2014 and 2015 tax years, the Warrick... READ MORE

On November 22, 2019, the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a memorandum entitled “Updates and Initiatives to Ensure Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes” (“QSO Memo”) that announced a status update on the Interpretive Guidance for: (1) Phase 3 elements of the regulations in Part... READ MORE

Would you share information about your heart rate, menstrual cycle or hearing loss with a technology company? On November 14, 2019, Apple, Inc. (“Apple”) launched an application that allows its U.S. customers to enroll in three studies aimed at collecting health-related data that are intended to contribute to medical discoveries called the “Apple Research... READ MORE

Passage of Temporary Funding Bill Ends Potential Shutdown Just hours before the previous short-term agreement was set to expire on November 21, President Trump signed a bill funding the government through December 20. This measure gives Congress four additional weeks to reach a consensus on how to fund the government in FY 2020. The... READ MORE

NATIONAL How predictive analytics can help hospitals manage administrative, clinical functions Analysis finds big drugmakers could lose $1 trillion in sales and still be most profitable industry How Hospitals Can Impact the Social Determinants of Health PhRMA’s revenue hit record $459M in 2018 American Hospital Association, provider groups to sue over final rule CMS... READ MORE

On November 6, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the standard to establish a claim under the “regarded as” prong of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and explained the type of evidence that supports an inference that an employer’s reasons for an employee’s termination are “pretextual” and actually motivated by discrimination. Factual Background A nurse anesthetist, Paula E. Babb, insisted her former employer... READ MORE

On November 15, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the final rule on Price Transparency Requirements for Hospitals to Make Standard Charges Public (“Final Rule”) (available here). Despite broad opposition from the industry, CMS finalized the rule largely as proposed. CMS did delay the effective date until January 1, 2021,... READ MORE

CMS Releases Price Transparency Rules On November 15, CMS issued a proposed and final rule, both intended to increase the transparency in pricing for health care providers. One of the rules is the Calendar Year (“CY “) 2020 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) final rule. The second rule is the Transparency in Coverage proposed... READ MORE

NATIONAL FDA proposal for medical device approvals a ‘terrible idea,’ advocacy group says Why hospitals are a weak spot in U.S. cybersecurity Here’s how Amazon employees get health care through a new app — a glimpse of the future of medicine Consolidation of physician practices linked to ACOs, study finds OIG: Hospitals overbilled Medicare... READ MORE

In more happy news for the health care industry, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) is proposing to amend its regulations concerning its jurisdiction over health care providers that participate in TRICARE. The amendments would revise OFCCP’s regulatory definition of “subcontractor . . . to exclude health care providers with agreements to... READ MORE