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
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1418, the “Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act,” by a voice vote on September 21. The legislation, which was introduced back in early 2019 by Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), would reduce the scope of the McCarran Ferguson Act’s antitrust exemption, which currently provides insurers with an exemption from the … Continue Reading
Throughout his presidential campaign, President Trump championed the need to allow the government to negotiate drug prices on behalf of the Medicare program. However, that third rail for pharmaceutical companies was not included as part of the President’s recently released blueprint for lowering drug prices. Instead, the plan takes aim at the entire supply chain … Continue Reading
The 2018 Florida Legislative Session began its 60 day trek to completion on Tuesday, January 9, 2018. Both House and Senate will be debating various health related bills which may be of interest to healthcare providers in the State. The following is a sample of those bills which we feel are pertinent to our clients’ … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in an August 3, 2017 letter to Florida’s Medicaid Director, approved a five-year extension of the State’s 1115 demonstration project, the Managed Medical Assistance Program (MMA). As part of this extension, CMS approved low-income pool (LIP) funding of approximately $1.5 billion annually. The LIP was created in … Continue Reading
The recently released Invitations to Negotiate (ITN) for Florida’s Statewide Medicaid Managed Care program (SMMC) parallels in large part the State’s initial procurements that were released in 2012 and 2013. Where the current ITN differs, however, should be of interest to all applicants and associated parties. This blog post addresses several of the more significant … Continue Reading
Last Friday, July 14, 2017, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) released its long awaited Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) for State Wide Medicaid Managed Care services. The ITN, one for each of the 11 regions within the state, may be found on the state Vendor Bid System (VBS), the link for which is … Continue Reading
Just over four weeks after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its score of the American Healthcare Act (AHCA), the bill passed by a narrow margin in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate released ‘The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017’. Upon initial review, we are providing a quick overview of this proposed … Continue Reading
While the Senate Budget Committee works to draft legislation to reconcile the American Health Care Act, the repeal and replace bill passed by the House, there is no expectation of a repeal of the charitable care obligations imposed on tax exempt hospitals under Section 501(r) of the Internal Revenue Code as part of the Affordable … Continue Reading
Perhaps the high fives in the Rose Garden of the White House a few weeks ago may have been a bit premature. On Wednesday, May 24, 2017, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its analysis of the revised American Health Care Act (AHCA), and the review contained positive budgetary news, but the overall impact of … Continue Reading
Florida’s First District Court of Appeal issued its opinion in the highly watched case of Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida, Inc. v. Charles et al. The First District Court ruled that the federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA): Expressly preempts any broad discovery rights afforded under Florida’s Amendment 7 for documents … Continue Reading
Florida law makers have decided it is high time to stop allowing addiction recovery residences to operate without regulatory oversight. In its last session, the Florida Legislature passed a new law (CS/CS/HB 21) requiring that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) create a voluntary certification program for substance abuse recovery residences, as well as … Continue Reading
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued the final section 501(r) regulations, implementing the amendments to the Internal Revenue Code under the Affordable Care Act and providing regulatory guidance for tax-exempt hospitals. This post describes the guidance for financial assistance policies, limitation on charges, and billing and collection practices and highlights the changes made between … Continue Reading
On Monday, January 26, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced a timeline for moving physicians and hospitals into new payment systems and tying Medicare reimbursements to quality of care. This will affect hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare payments (the goals apply to Medicare Parts A and B, which paid … Continue Reading
A federal court has invalidated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) amended rule that would have extended minimum wage and overtime protections to nearly two million home health care workers and affected the cost and availability of those services to the millions of patients under their care. The ruling represents a significant victory for the … Continue Reading
