On September 22, 2010, the House passed HR 6130: Strengthening Medicare Anti-Fraud Measures Act of 2010 (the “Bill”), introduced by Reps. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Wally Herger (R-CA). The Bill provides for an expanded “permissive exclusion from participation in Federal health care programs to individuals and entities affiliated with sanctioned…
On September 23, CMS released its Voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (“SRDP”) pursuant to Section 6409 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), which “requires the Secretary of HHS to inform providers of services and suppliers of how to disclose an actual or potential violation pursuant to the protocol….” The new statutory…
Last week, CMS posted the Preview of the Proposed Rules, which will officially be released in Federal Register format and open for comments on September 23. The proposed rule focuses on implementing the Affordable Care Act (“Act”) that will, in part: • Establish screening procedures for suppliers and providers of…
A bill introduced in the Senate on August 5, 2010 would set forth minimum credentialing standards for medical personnel who “perform or plan” medical imaging or radiation therapy procedures. The Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence (CARE) in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Act, introduced by Sen. Harkin (D-IA) and Sen.…
As the Wall Street Journal reported on August 9th, health-insurance companies progressively are initiating programs to equip doctors with high-tech patient records. Even with all of the focus on electronic health records (“EHR”), an estimated 80% of U.S. physicians and 90%of hospitals continue to use paper records. As HLP has…
Attorney General of New York, Andre Cuomo, initiated an investigation into health care credit cards after receiving a substantial number of complaints from consumers who were convinced by doctors and dentists to sign up for them. The investigation will examine the financial incentives providers received from promoting the cards. Subpoenas…
On July 30, the OIG released advisory opinion no 10-11 (the “Opinion”) which favorably reviewed a company’s proposal to encourage health care providers to use its online program for scheduling meetings with manufacturer representatives by offering the health care provider an opportunity to select a public charity to which the…
As the HLP had previously reported, on July 16, the HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force announced charges against 94 individuals for their alleged participation in schemes that collectively submitted more than $251 million in false claims to Medicare. The charges are based on a variety of schemes including: physical therapy…
On July 23, CMS published a notice in the Federal Register, soliciting proposals in a new imaging demonstration created under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. The two-year Medicare Imaging Demonstration (MID) will test whether the use of decision supports systems (DSSs) can improve quality of…
Advanced Radiology of Beverly Hills has agreed to pay the federal government $647,000 to settle allegations that they filed false claims with Medicare for unnecessary radiological tests. The United States civil lawsuit alleged that Advanced Radiology engaged in a scheme to bill Medicare for unnecessary tests performed at Advanced Radiology…