On December 7, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released a final rule (“Final Rule”) codifying new safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and new exceptions to the beneficiary inducement provisions of the Civil Monetary Penalties law (“CMP”). The Final Rule will…
Relief will (eventually) be granted to Medicare appellants. After a years-long battle, on December 5, 2016, the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia granted mandamus relief to the American Hospital Association (“AHA”) and its co-plaintiffs. The Court requested that the parties propose actions the Secretary could take to…
The OIG issued a Policy Statement regarding Gifts of Nominal Value to Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries. Under section 1128A(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (the Act), enacted as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), a person who offers or transfers to a Medicare or…
The New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) issued guidance on its requirements for Medicaid compliance, effective October 26, 2016. This Compliance Program Review Guidance (“Guidance”) will assist the Medicaid Required Provider (“Required Provider”) community in developing and implementing compliance programs that meet the requirements of Social…
Following a lengthy dispute process and significant delays, on October 31, 2016, CMS awarded new Medicare Fee-for-Service RAC contracts to the following contractors: Region 1 – Performant Recovery, Inc. Region 2 – Cotiviti, LLC Region 3 – Cotiviti, LLC Region 4 – HMS Federal Solutions Region 5 – Performant Recovery…
Private practitioners who wish to remain independent, but who are struggling to survive because of decreased third-party reimbursements and increasing overhead expenses, are being aggressively courted by various business entities that will analyze-often for free-whether the concierge model of medicine, or some variation thereof, might add significant profitability to the…
Medicare has developed a new incentive payment framework (“MACRA”) which is intended to fundamentally change the way in which the Federal Government evaluates and pays for the healthcare services that are provided to Medicare beneficiaries. It is designed to move us away from a volume-based “fee-for-service” reimbursement system to one…
The California state legislature passed a bill that will prevent unexpected out-of-network medical bills. The bill declares that patients who receive non-emergency care in in-network facilities would only have to pay in-network cost sharing. This would eliminate surprise billing from out-of-network claims. Suitable provider networks will also be more strictly…
The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance released a whitepaper, which addresses proposed reforms of the Stark law (which prohibits physicians from referring Medicare beneficiaries to an entity in which they have a financial relationship for designated health services). The whitepaper asserts that support for reform of the Stark Law has…
The Joint Commission (which accredits and certifies healthcare organizations and programs) announced in their newsletter that they are temporarily upholding their ban on clinicians’ use of messaging and text tools. In 2011, the Joint Commission said that it was “not acceptable for physicians or licensed independent practitioners to text orders…