Articles and Blogs

Government Shutdown Continues With the partial government shutdown now on its 28th day, there is no doubt it will enter its second month. Lawmakers are headed home for the long holiday weekend, and no shutdown negotiations are currently scheduled for party leaders. House Democrats spent the week passing numerous continuing resolutions that would reopen the government….Read More

January 1, 2019 marked the start of a new data collection period for laboratories pursuant to the Medicare Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests Payment System Final Rule (“CLFS Rule”).¹ The CLFS Rule establishes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s (“CMS’s”) new private payor-based rate-setting system for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests (“CDLTs”) paid under the Medicare…Read More

The United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued a statement (the “Statement”) clarifying its position on cannabidiol (“CBD”) products in the wake of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the “2018 Farm Bill”) signed December 20, 2018.¹ The 2018 Farm Bill is a broad piece of legislation that regulates agricultural programs ranging from income support to…Read More

NATIONAL Medicaid gets new acting director Healthcare leaders on communicating effectively with other C-suite executives Hospitals are turning to telehealth to manage scarce physician resources ACOs want deadline extended for CMS’s Pathways to Success applications Intermountain Healthcare-led generic drug venture CivicaRx garners new members including NYU Langone, Memorial Hermann, Oschner Telemedicine Licensure Compact is Now…Read More

In the year or so since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements shined a national media spotlight on sexual harassment in the workplace, the issue has reached several courts and state legislatures as well. As a result, employers may now be required to take additional action in developing policies and procedures to address sexual harassment, training…Read More

NATIONAL Prescription Drug Spending Higher at 340B Hospitals, Study Finds Medicaid chief out after 3 months: 3 things to know How artificial intelligence will shape the physician toolkit in 2019 Health care experts call new federally-required hospital price listings ‘not very consumer-friendly’ HHS releases voluntary cybersecurity guidance DOJ Recovers $2.5B in Healthcare Fraud, False Claims…Read More

Lawmakers Hit a Wall with Funding Negotiations – Shutdown Continues The three-week partial government shutdown continues without any progress towards an agreement to fund the federal government. Tomorrow, January 12, will mark the longest government shutdown on record as it exceeds the 21-day shutdown in 1996. Congress was in action this week. On Thursday, the…Read More

On December 27, 2018, a federal judge ruled in favor of hospital associations and hospitals challenging the reduction in reimbursement for drugs purchased at a discount under the 340B Program established in the 2018 Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule (“2018 OPPS Rule”). Judge Rudolph Contreras of the United States District Court in Washington, D.C….Read More

Master Trust Indentures or “MTIs” have historically been implemented by hospitals and health systems as a way to pool the credit of multiple entities (the members of the “obligated group”) and create a “master trust” consisting of revenues or other assets pledged by the obligated group members under the MTI. An MTI allows the obligated…Read More

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reported it collected more than $2.8 billion in False Claims Act (“FCA”) settlements and verdicts in 2018.¹ This is significantly down from the record $5.69 billion recovered in 2014 and from the $3.6 billion – $4.7 billion in 2015 through 2017. This can primarily be explained by the absence of…Read More