Articles and Blogs

Coming This Week: CMS to Release Medicaid Block Grant Plan Expected on Thursday, CMS will announce a plan to overhaul Medicaid by letting states shift certain program funding to block grants. CMS Administrator Seema Verma has been very passionate about implementing a block grant option, as she said this was the pathway to give... READ MORE

The USDA Hemp Producer License Rule and Framework On October 31, 2019, the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) published an interim final rule[1] with request for comments in the Federal Register regarding hemp production (“USDA Hemp Rule” or the “Interim Final Rule”).[2] The USDA Hemp Rule establishes a federal hemp producer license and... READ MORE

NATIONAL DoJ Recovered $2.6B from Healthcare Fraud Cases in 2019 297%: The average difference between highest, lowest outpatient charges, study says SCOTUS declines expedited review of ACA case Uber Health plans to double in size this year Forbes names ‘Best Employers for Diversity’: 14 hospitals, health systems in top 100 Surgeries are being postponed... READ MORE

On January 10, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively, the “Federal Antitrust Enforcers”) proposed their first new vertical merger guidelines (the “Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines”) in 36 years. The Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines, which will supersede and replace the 1984 DOJ “Non-Horizontal Merger... READ MORE

On January 8, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released an Informational Bulletin titled “Best Practices for Avoiding 340B Duplicate Discounts in Medicaid” (“Bulletin”). The Bulletin outlines best practices that CMS encourages state Medicaid agencies to consider to avoid the situation where a manufacturer provides both a Medicaid drug rebate and... READ MORE

NATIONAL Could Patient Privacy Awareness Drive Health IT Innovation in 2020? How tech will transform the healthcare workplace by 2050: 3 predictions Physicians will keep fighting on these 6 key issues in 2020 How healthcare will change in 2020 Health Plans Struggle with HIPAA Compliance, Unprepared for Audit AHA files another challenge to CMS... READ MORE

Under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (“PAMA”), certain laboratories must report private payor data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”). This data is in turn used by CMS to establish a single, national Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule. For a more detailed discussion on PAMA and the types of laboratories that... READ MORE

On January 9, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it collected over $3 billion in settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) in the federal fiscal year 2019. The FCA has historically been the government’s primary tool for combatting perceived fraud, waste and abuse in the health care system, and... READ MORE

Welcome to the new The Week in Washington! This newsletter will publish on Monday to review the past week’s news for Congress and the administration, as well as provide a preview for the upcoming week. Health Care on the Hill – What to Expect in 2020 Since 2020 is an election year, Congress traditionally... READ MORE

Hall Render has recently announced that Bobby Hamill, Alyssa James and Joel Swider have been named Shareholders. Bobby Hamill (Raleigh office) focuses his practice on health care transactions and assists his clients on a wide range of transactions and related matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, affiliations and co-management arrangements, securities offerings, the... READ MORE