Health Law News

Published on: April 5, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

Model Legislation for Balance Billing Adopted by NCOIL

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) adopted model legislation to restrict out-of-network balance billing by physicians. The stated purpose of the model-legislation is “to provide transparency, accountability, and disclosure by healthcare facilities, facility-based providers, and health benefit plans regarding billing practices, notice of network benefits, and financial responsibilities in the delivery of non-emergency medical […]

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Published on: April 4, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

Face-to-Face Encounter Requirement for Hospice and Home Health Providers Effective NOW

Effective April 1, 2011, hospice and home health providers will be required to comply with the face-to-face rule for purposes of verification of a patient’s eligibility for Medicare home health services and of recertification for Medicare hospice services. Enforcement of this requirement was delayed from January 1, 2011, in order to allow home health and […]

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Published on: April 1, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

The Highly Anticipated ACO Guidance Has Been Issued!

On Thursday, March 31, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) provided the health care community with some much needed guidance by publishing its Proposed Rule regarding the Medicare Shared Savings Program (the “Shared Savings Program”) and its Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”). There is a sixty (60) day public comment period with respect […]

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Published on: March 25, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

OIG Views Favorably Complimentary Transportation Services in Adv. Op. 11-02

In the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Advisory Opinion 11-02, the OIG examined a proposed arrangement in which the Requestor–a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation that operates an outpatient acute care hospital–would provide complimentary transportation services to patients and their families at physicians’ offices located on, or contiguous to, the Requestor’s campus (Physicians) to the Requestor’s acute […]

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Published on: March 21, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

5th and 9th Circuits Rule the HHS Hospice Cap Invalid

Following a December challenge in the Northern District of Texas, the ninth circuit (Los Angeles Haven Hospice, Inc. v. Sebelius, No. 09-56391 (9th Cir. Mar. 15, 2011)) and the fifth circuit (Lion Health Servs. V. Sebelius, No. 10-10414 (5th Cir. Mar. 11, 2011)) have both ruled that the hospice cap regulation (42 CFR 418.309(b)) is […]

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Published on: March 19, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

Advocacy Groups Pushing to Delay Face-to-Face Rule

Section 6407 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires a face-to-face encounter for home health and hospice patients to qualify for Medicare coverage. On March 12, 13 prominent medical societies and advocacy groups sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requesting a postponement until, at least, July 1 […]

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Published on: March 18, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

Holder and Sebelius in Detroit, MI

On March 15, 2011, US Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius and Inspector General Daniel Levinson visited Detroit to participate in the fifth regional health care fraud prevention summit. These summits bring together a wide array of federal, state and local partners, beneficiaries, providers and other interested parties […]

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Published on: March 17, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

Faculty Physicians Experiencing Increased Salaries

According to an article in Modern Physician, most faculty physicians experienced an increase in their salaries from 2009 to 2010. Based on a report from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), “the median compensation for primary-care faculty physicians was $163,704, up 3.47% from $158,218 in 2009, and the median pay for specialty care faculty was […]

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Published on: March 15, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

ACO Regulations May Finally Be Near

Since the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) last year, there has been considerable attention and interest within the industry towards accountable care organizations (ACOs). Accompanying this focus has been a series of questions regarding the compositional requirements, as well as the operational and structural opportunities to be afforded to (and […]

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Published on: March 2, 2011 | by The Health Law Partners

MI Governor Snyder Makes Changes to Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (DELEG)

Gov. Snyder’s Executive Orders 2011-4 and 2011-5 reorganized DELEG, changing the name to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (DLRA). Other notable changes include – Transferring the Bureau of Health Professions, the Bureau of Health Systems and the Controlled Substances Advisory Commission from the Department of Community Health to the DLRA; – Creating an […]

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