After multiple extensions over the past three years, on Monday, January 30, 2023, President Biden announced that the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (“PHE”) will officially end on May 11, 2023....more
On November 2, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued its Calendar Year (CY) 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (“PFS”) Final Rule. In this post, we sample some key highlights from the Final Rule. ...more
12/23/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
FQHC ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medicare ,
MPFS ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Rural Health Care Program ,
Self-Referral ,
Stark Law ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
In a November 12, 2021 revision of its prior draft guidelines for hospital co-location compliance with Medicare conditions of participation (COP) for hospitals (QSO-19-13), CMS has apparently softened its approach to...more
Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still active worldwide, health care industry leaders and regulators have already begun to think about how to implement post-pandemic changes to health care delivery based on lessons learned...more
10/27/2021
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Patient Access ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Telehealth
As discussed in a prior post, the Hospital Price Transparency Rule at 45 C.F.R. § 180.10 et. seq. (the “Rule”), requires all hospitals to provide clear, accessible pricing information about the items and services they provide...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a wave of telehealth policy changes across the nation at both federal and state levels. Such changes have expanded access to health care and addressed underutilization in chronic disease...more
In a prior blog post, we discussed CMS’ Hospital Price Transparency Rule at 45 C.F.R. § 180.10 et. seq., effective January 1, 2021 (the “Rule”), which requires hospitals to make public “a machine-readable file containing a...more
This post is part one of two in a series on new transparency requirements impacting both health plans and health care providers.
In an effort to assist patients in understanding the cost of hospital services, the Hospital...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”), has issued two final rules clarifying certain...more
On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") issued its Second Interim Final Rule in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes additional regulatory waivers and rule changes. After reviewing...more
In yet another example of coronavirus-related regulatory dispensation, on March 30, 2020, CMS announced that it will waive penalties for violations of the Stark Law in regard to compensation relationships between physicians...more
On March 9, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology ("ONC") each released final rules generally intended to ease both access to...more
On October 9, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") issued proposed changes to the regulations implementing the Physician Self-Referral Law (the "Stark Law"), the Anti-Kickback Statute (the "AKS"), and the...more
10/15/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
EHR ,
Exceptions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Reform ,
OIG ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Stark Law ,
Value-Based Care
On April 27, 2016, just over a year after the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was signed into law, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled the long-awaited proposed rule to begin its...more
On April 16, 2015, President Obama signed into law H.R.2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (the "Act"), which provides for sweeping changes to how Medicare pays doctors. Specifically, the Act seeks to...more