Articles and Blogs

Hospitals Release Voluntary 340B Principles as Alternative to Legislation The battle over 340B continued this week as hospital groups announced a new voluntary 340B reporting program as an alternative to congressional legislation that would further regulate the program. Under the American Hospital Association-led initiative, hospitals would commit to publicly disclosing their 340B savings annually. Hospitals…Read More

NATIONAL How ASC facilities turn their smaller operations into safer operations Private equity pushes into healthcare Walmart wants to bring its ‘everyday low prices’ to health care Only 18% of physicians say value-based payments will improve care, survey finds Half Of U.S. Doctors Have Pay Tied To ‘Value-Based Metrics’ HHS launches ASC safety database CMS…Read More

On August 7, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a Memorandum (“Memorandum”) announcing a policy change to allow Medicare Advantage (“MA”) plans to implement step therapy programs for physician-administered and other Part B drugs. Step therapy is a type of prior authorization for drugs in which a health plan requires a…Read More

In the era of value-based care, health care providers and manufacturers are increasingly examining risk sharing opportunities in the treatment of patients. On September 17, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion 18-10 whereby it approved a proposed risk sharing initiative with defined guardrails. The Advisory Opinion…Read More

As Hurricane Florence inaugurates the U.S. hurricane season with fierce winds and torrential rains, health care providers are preparing to care for patients under demanding and dangerous conditions. Effective communication is always challenging and critically important when natural disasters like hurricanes strike. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) Privacy Rule (the “Privacy Rule”)…Read More

Nearly a decade has passed since the U.S. Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). Since March 2010, we have seen federal court rulings on numerous challenges to the ACA itself and the executive branch’s efforts to enforce the ACA. One such challenge resulted on September 7, 2018 in the United…Read More

On August 27, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published a Request for Information (“RFI”) regarding the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and Civil Monetary Penalties Law (“CMP”). The RFI, published as a result of HHS’s desire to transition the current health care system to one that pays for…Read More

Senate and House Appropriators Nail Down HHS Funding Bill On September 13, a conference committee of House and Senate appropriators finalized details of the fiscal year 2019 Health and Human Services (“HHS”) spending bill, H.R. 6157, which was combined with legislation to fund the Department of Defense. The conference agreement paves a path for Congress…Read More

NATIONAL Hospitals are fed up with drug companies, so they’re starting their own Here’s why Amazon and Apple are betting on medical clinics Drug company involving senior living parent companies now has name, CEO, financing, Rx targets National study finds hospital CEO compensation rates outpacing clinical employees Amazon, Google, Microsoft to Make Waves in Health…Read More

Medicaid Bills Advance in the House On September 7, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee advanced a series of health care-related bills that full Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) hopes to move to the floor before the end of September. Among the bills marked up by the subcommittee this week was the ACE Kids Act…Read More