New York’s 2023 state budget, signed into law on April 9, included an amendment to the state’s Education Law establishing 3,600 practice hours as a threshold beyond which nurse practitioners no longer require a collaborative...more
On March 28, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced four new enforcement actions against healthcare providers for HIPAA violations....more
This is outside our usual catchment area, but interesting nonetheless. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled on March 8 that the state’s Medical Malpractice Act (MMA) does not apply to claims for indemnification filed by one...more
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expanded Medicare coverage for telehealth nationwide, as discussed here. The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law by...more
We don’t often cover brand-new proposed legislation on Rivkin Rounds, generally preferring to wait until it’s closer to becoming law. However, two bipartisan bills introduced in Congress last week are worthy of mention....more
2/15/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicare ,
PHI ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Telehealth
The federal No Surprises Act, effective January 1, 2022, established new requirements for healthcare providers, facilities, and providers of air ambulance services to protect consumers from “surprise” medical bills. These...more
A study recently released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that the number of beneficiaries in the traditional Medicare program who used telehealth increased from 840,000 in 2019 to nearly 52.7...more
The 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule released on November 2 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added certain services to the Medicare telehealth services list through December 31, 2023. Last...more
Please join us as Rivkin Radler Partner Eric D. Fader provides an overview of changes in the provision of telehealth services and federal and state regulation of them, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. New rules...more
10/27/2021
/ Continuing Legal Education ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medical Billing Codes ,
Medicare ,
New Rules ,
Out of Network Provider ,
Physicians ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Webinars
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded $954 million to 1,292 community health centers across the U.S. for capital improvements. The funds, to be provided by HHS’s Health Resources and Services...more
On September 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced criminal charges against 138 defendants for alleged healthcare fraud schemes that resulted in $1.4 billion in losses. Those charged included 23 doctors, 19...more
A new federal hospital price transparency rule that took effect on January 1, 2021, requires hospitals to post all prices for services online in an easily accessible format. However, a report recently released by...more
The proposed 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule released on July 13 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) includes a new category of CPT codes for “remote therapeutic monitoring” (RTM). The new codes are in...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has pursued its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative since 2019. OCR’s 19th settlement under the initiative, with The Diabetes, Endocrinology &...more
In an April 15 notice on its COVID-19 portal, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) reminded healthcare providers that COVID-19 vaccines must be administered at no out-of-pocket...more
For those providers who somehow missed or ignored the first 15 settlements in the series, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that Sharp HealthCare, doing...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released corrections to its 2021 Physician Fee Schedule final rule that was published on December 28. Some of the corrections clarify reimbursement requirements for...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the 14th settlement in its ongoing HIPAA Right of Access Initiative. Banner Health, a Phoenix-based health system that operates 30...more
A proposed rule released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on December 10 would give healthcare providers more flexibility to share patients’ health information for certain purposes. The rule, titled...more
The 2021 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule recently released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) includes the addition of 60 new telehealth services that will be covered and reimbursed by Medicare. The...more
12/11/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Technology ,
Medicare ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Physicians ,
Reimbursements ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
On November 20, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced the issuance of long-awaited final rules to modernize the Stark...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert on November 16, warning that speaker programs organized by pharmaceutical and medical device companies pose...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on October 29 that Medtronic USA Inc. agreed to pay $8.1 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and federal Anti-Kickback Statute by paying...more
11/13/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare
The city of New Haven, Connecticut recently agreed to pay $202,400 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to settle multiple HIPAA violations in connection with a 2016 incident at...more
On September 21, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $1.5 million agreement with Athens Orthopedic Clinic PA to settle “longstanding, systemic noncompliance” with the...more