The Florida Legislature recently passed a bill, called the CHOICE Act, that augments Florida’s laws governing restrictive covenants to make it significantly easier for employers to enforce two new types of noncompete agreements: (1) “covered garden leave agreements” and (2) “covered noncompete agreements.” However, these new types of agreements and the employer-friendly mechanisms available to … Continue Reading
An Idaho federal court has resolved the tension between that state’s restrictive abortion law and the federal Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) in favor of a hospital system’s obligation to stabilize pregnant patients even if that care includes terminating a pregnancy, at least temporarily.… Continue Reading
The three federal agencies tasked with enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) — the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services (through CMS), and Treasury (the Departments) — issued their Final Rule to implement the MHPAEA on September 9, 2024, to mixed reviews. Groups composed of providers, such as the … Continue Reading
Mifepristone is safe for now. On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the plaintiffs — doctors and medical associations alike — lacked standing to challenge 2000 and 2019 FDA approvals of mifepristone (brand name: Mifeprex), a drug used to terminate pregnancies through ten weeks gestation. Avoiding a substantive decision on the merits … Continue Reading
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), through a 3-2 vote, approved a final rule (the Final Rule), banning most forms of non-compete clauses with workers. A non-compete clause generally prevents a worker from getting a different job or starting a new business that competes with the employer after the conclusion of their … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has revised certain payment policies under the Medicare physician fee schedule, and updated provider and supplier enrollment regulations. CMS recently published a final rule (the Final Rule) effective January 1, 2024. Technical and typographical errors in the Final Rule were later corrected by a subsequent final rule … Continue Reading
Hospitals, urgent care clinics, doctors’ offices — these are the places we go when we are sick and want to get better. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are the people who treat us, help us recover, and even save our lives in medical emergencies.… Continue Reading
Applicants for a health maintenance organization (HMO) certificate of authority (COA) in Florida must use a new application form effective January 28, 2024. After rule development by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the Florida Department of Financial Services adopted amendments to Rule 69O-C1-942, F.A.C. The amendment incorporates changes to the Florida HMO COA application … Continue Reading
With a couple of “firsts,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is signaling that it is cracking down on healthcare organizations that fail to identify and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA Rules). On October 31, 2023, … Continue Reading
The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (the OIG) recently released an updated General Compliance Program Guidance document (GCPG). The GCPG has been anticipated since the OIG announced on April 25, 2023, that it planned to modernize the accessibility and usability of its publicly available resources, including the … Continue Reading
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) take note! Under Florida’s new Prescription Drug Reform Act, PBMs must be licensed as an insurance administrator (also known as a third-party administrator, or TPA). Under this new law, any entity that wishes to provide PBM services after January 1, 2024, must be licensed as a TPA.… Continue Reading
By looking at the events that have transpired since the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which includes the No Surprises Act (the Act), was signed into law, it is clear that the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury (collectively, the Departments) have lost their way. The United States District Court for the Eastern … Continue Reading
Providers finally obtained court ordered relief to the $350 administrative fee each party was required to pay as part of the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) Process under the No Surprises Act. Until the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) set a new administrative fee amount, the administrative … Continue Reading
The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a proposed rule on April 17, 2023, to amend provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to strengthen privacy protections for individuals’ protected health information (PHI) related to reproductive healthcare (the Proposed Rule). The Proposed Rule would … Continue Reading
On May 3, 2023, the Florida governor signed a comprehensive law (SB 1550) regarding pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). This new law imposes significant new requirements on PBMs. This article discusses only one of these new requirements: a PBM must obtain a license, called a certificate of authority, to act as an insurance administrator, which is … Continue Reading
We are not surprised by the continued stop-and-go regarding guidance surrounding the No Surprises Act. Most recently, a Texas court vacated portions of the No Surprises Act’s updated final rule (the final rules were discussed in our most recent blog on the subject). This created a domino effect, leading to the Departments of the Treasury, … Continue Reading
Are State Attorneys General expanding their reach in this Post-Dobbs world? On February 1, 2023, twenty state Attorneys General signed letters to both CVS and Walgreens warning the giant retail pharmacies against mailing medications that could potentially be used to induce abortions. These letters are most notable for the legal posture they assume. The state … Continue Reading
The Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (the Departments) issued final rules related to the No Surprises Act on August 26, 2022, to be effective October 25, 2022 (Final Rules). These Final Rules come after months of uncertainty and legal battles regarding the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process, as we … Continue Reading
Check your mailboxes. AHCA is sending out postcards to existing Florida Medicaid providers (Providers) alerting them to upcoming changes in the Florida Medicaid program. These changes require Providers to pay certain of their employees a minimum wage of at least $15.00 per hour. Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Freedom First Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023” includes funding … Continue Reading
Given the trajectory, it is no longer surprising that the No Surprises Act (the Act) continues its turbulent path through implementation. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, on July 26, 2022, again vacated provisions of the Federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process, this time relating to air ambulance payment disputes. (LifeNet, … Continue Reading
To facilitate the provision of care during the pandemic, the federal government and many state governments enacted changes that encouraged physicians and other nonphysician practitioners (collectively, Practitioners) to use telehealth services. While this new flexibility increased access to care, it also increased opportunities for fraud. On July 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and … Continue Reading
Chapter 2022-60, Laws of Florida (http://laws.flrules.org/2022/60), that went into effect July 1, 2022, allows registered pharmacy technicians to seek certification to provide immunizations and become “Certified Registered Pharmacy Technicians.” These pharmacy technicians will be allowed to administer all of the vaccines listed by the CDC in the Adult Immunization Schedule or recommended by the CDC … Continue Reading
Employers who are conducting automatic COVID-19 testing of employees or gathering test results of employees’ families should beware: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued new guidance limiting the former and has penalized a healthcare practice recently for doing the latter.… Continue Reading
Healthcare breaches, including ransomware attacks, continue to increase. As a result, many healthcare organizations seeking cyber coverage to help defray the costs associated with a ransomware attack or other data incident may find that carriers have increased premiums, reduced coverage, and tightened underwriting requirements. Healthcare organization leaders should understand that implementing reasonable administrative, technical, and … Continue Reading
