The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has continued to indict, prosecute, and convict members of the healthcare community for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) statue and the False Claims statute. Some notable prosecutions are below: – On February 2, 2010, Maria Aloise, the president and owner of Atenas Medical Equipment, Inc. (Atenas), was […]
The Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (“RAC”) program has a strong supporter in President Obama. On March 10, 2010, Obama signed a White House Memorandum, which states his support of the use of “high-tech bounty hunters,” such as RACs and Medicaid Integrity Contractors (“MICs”), to help root out health care fraud in government-run Medicare and Medicaid […]
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”), an office of the Department of Health and Human Services, released a proposed rule creating a program to certify electronic health records (“EHR”) systems. The rule creates both a temporary and a permanent certification system, designed to assure users to that EHR systems and […]
Rep. Sander Levin, an expert on trade issues, has been tapped to take over the House Ways and Means Committee after Rangel stepped down and Rep. Pete Stark stepped aside. It has been widely reported that concerns by fellow members of the House Ways and Means Committee over Rep. Pete Stark’s politics, background and history […]
As HLP previously reported, in December, CMS issued MLN Matter 6740 announcing that consultation codes would no longer be used to reflect the different locations where services were provided. This week, CMS issued additional guidance regarding billing for those services that would previously been coded as consultations. This guidance includes a Questions and Answers on […]
Recent Medicare regulations regarding ownership changes for HHAs have been the source of controversy and confusion. After numerous attempts by HLP founding partner Robert Iwrey, Esq. to obtain clarification regarding enforcement of these regs, Rob was pleased to receive an email this morning from Frank Whelan, a CMS adminstrator with the Division of Provider and […]
Yesterday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi selected Congressman Pete Stark of California to head the powerful Ways and Means Committee, replacing New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, who has stepped aside temporarily amid ethics investigations. Stark is best known in health care for first proposing what is now known as “the Stark law,” which regulates physician self-referral, […]
Physician reimbursement under the Medicare program will not face a 21% cut, at least not for the next 30 days. Yesterday, on March 2, 2010, the Senate passed the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (H.R. 4691, 111th Cong. § 5 (2010)), which postponed the effective date of a planned 21% fee reduction for an additional […]
One of HLP’s founding partners, Adrienne Dresevic, Esq., who specializes in Stark and fraud & abuse analysis, published a new article in the latest issue of the RBMA Bulletin, a publication of the Radiology Business Management Association. Adrienne’s article, entitled “Key Regulations Impacting Marketing: Entertainment and Gifts,” explains the regulatory limitations placed on health care […]
On February 22, The Health Law Partners, P.C. (“The HLP”) posted a blog urging our clients and friends to help prevent a proposed 21% reduction in Medicare reimbursement. On February 28, the short-term Medicare physician payment freeze expired, triggering the 21% reduction in Medicare reimbursement. Congress is expected to vote within the next several days […]
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