Health Law Attorney Blog

Due to the “significant program integrity problems” presented to the Medicare program by durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (“DMEPOS”) suppliers, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a report, Program Integrity Problems with Newly Enrolled Medicare Equipment Suppliers (“Report”). In its Report, the OIG aimed describes the aim of its investigation was two-fold: […]

In the December 19, 2011 Federal Register, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued its proposed rule for the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (“Proposed Rule”), which was promulgated as a result of Section 6002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”). Section 6002 requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biological, or […]

In its fight against Medicare fraud, HHS announced that it “will direct all Medicare prescription drug plans to use every tool at their disposal to prevent fraud.” HHS noted the increasing problem of doctor shopping, the abuse of OxyContin and Percocet, and prescription drug fraud. Importantly, HHS announced that it has asked “prescription drug plans […]

In a December 13, 2011 press release, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has recovered over $5.6 billion in total fraud in 2011, an increase of over 167% since 2008. Of this $5.6 billion recovered in 2011, over $2.9 billion (over 51%) recovered was due to […]