The American Relief Act, 2025, signed into law on December 21, included a short-term extension of certain telehealth waivers that went into effect in the early days of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. These waivers, for...more
1/17/2025
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
New Legislation ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Waivers
The 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule, released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier this month, extended certain telehealth-related flexibilities that were implemented during the early...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently released two resource documents to help healthcare providers explain the privacy and security risks of telehealth to their patients....more
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has announced that its third annual Telehealth Awareness Week will take place September 17-23, 2023. The official website for the event states:...more
On Thursday, September 14, in the next installment of Rivkin Radler’s Healthcare Compliance Lunch & Learn series, Rivkin Radler Partner Eric D. Fader will present an update on the regulatory landscape for the provision of...more
9/1/2023
/ Continuing Legal Education ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Dentists ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Medicare ,
Mental Health ,
PHI ,
Physicians ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Webinars
On January 11, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra formally renewed the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for another 90 days. The PHE, which originally went into effect on...more
On December 23, the U.S. Congress passed the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023,” the omnibus budget bill for fiscal year 2023 (HR 2617). The bill includes several provisions relating to Medicare coverage of telehealth,...more
Virtual primary care company HealthTap recently announced that it has partnered with Samsung to provide telehealth services through Samsung smart TVs. Users will be able to connect to the HealthTap platform and schedule a...more
On October 13, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra formally renewed the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for another 90 days....more
On July 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert to caution healthcare practitioners who may wish to enter into arrangements with telehealth...more
7/27/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Billing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Telehealth ,
Unnecessary Medical Procedures
On July 15, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra formally extended the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days. ...more
On April 12, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days. The PHE had been scheduled to expire on April 16....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
On December 22, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) announced that it issued an Order temporarily suspending the requirements for state licensure, certification or registration of physicians, nurses, and certain...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
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
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 proposed 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, released on July 13 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), includes expanded reimbursement for behavioral health services delivered by telehealth, including...more
New York’s State Disaster Emergency declaration, which had been extended through June 24 through a series of Executive Orders by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has expired. Among many other things, the Executive Orders had removed...more
On May 26, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced criminal charges against 14 defendants in six states for participation in healthcare fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coordinated takedown involved...more
5/27/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Billing ,
Fraud ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Laboratories ,
Medicare ,
Misappropriation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Provider Relief Fund ,
Telehealth
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
In his 2021 State of the State Address on January 10, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced legislation to expand access to telehealth. The proposals will adjust reimbursement incentives to encourage telehealth, relax or...more