Articles and Blogs

Employers increasingly understand millennials are graduating from college with heavy debt loads from student loans. The Pew Research Center reported last August that 37 percent of adults under the age of 30 have student loan debt. For young adults with a bachelor’s degree or greater, the portion with outstanding student loans rises to 53 percent. Moreover,…Read More

Most health care providers caring for federal health care program beneficiaries are familiar with the False Claims Act[1] (“FCA”) and its qui tam provision,[2] which grants private citizens the right to sue health care providers on behalf of the federal government. The seemingly routine 6+ figure FCA settlements garner much-deserved attention. After all, providers can…Read More

Senate and House Work to Combat the Opioid Crisis On June 13, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) introduced H.R. 6, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention…Read More

NATIONAL Health Organizations Urge HHS to Recognize MA Providers in MACRA AHA report: Hospitals spend almost $3 trillion, support more than 16 million jobs Berkshire-Amazon-JPMorgan choose healthcare CEO, announcement coming soon Patients face large bills as air ambulance rides proliferate Health IT stakeholders urge CMS to adopt 3 new remote monitoring reimbursement codes CMS give…Read More

For years, we have reported on the multitude of decisions from the Board striking down employer handbook rules. Many of these decisions were based on a standard set forth in the Lutheran Heritage case, which provided, in part, that a rule or policy maintained by an employer is unlawful if “employees would reasonably construe the…Read More

NATIONAL Are hospital readmissions an accurate quality measure? These 2 researchers aren’t so sure Physician groups raise alarm over potential dearth of medical residents in July due to visa delays Hospitals are losing money on employed physicians: Here’s how to save the bottom line and your staff 340B cuts sting struggling hospitals, hurt credit ratings,…Read More

More Changes Ahead for 340B The Human Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) released a final rule delaying the effective date of implementation and enforcement of the previously issued final rule implementing the 340B Drug Discount Program. The delayed rule, which was originally published on January 5, 2017, established the methodology for calculating the 340B ceiling…Read More

On May 7, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion 18-02, which approved an arrangement allowing a durable medical equipment (“DME”) distributor to provide patients with product samples at no cost to the patient. OIG stated that it would not impose sanctions against the parties for…Read More

On June 4, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple due to his religious opposition to same-sex marriages. The Supreme Court held that the Colorado…Read More

NATIONAL MGMA calls for CMS to enforce health plans’ HIPAA compliance Senators Seek Solutions to Disappearing Rural EDs Health care CEOs lead the way in pay How Amazon’s digital health moves could affect providers Pfizer Settles False Claims Allegations for $24M 8 latest healthcare industry lawsuits Do Most Hospitals Benefit from Directly Employing Physicians? Is…Read More