There has been a flurry of recent activity in a case originally filed by six air ambulance companies claiming $20 million in unpaid emergency services invoices. ...more
On June 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a significant opinion in the case involving Guardian Flight, LLC and Med-Trans Corporation, two air ambulance providers, against the defendant insurance...more
Grounded in the OIG’s General Compliance Program Guidance and DOJ’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, our immersive, three-and-a-half-day, classroom-style Healthcare Basic Compliance Academy equips compliance...more
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Treasury, along with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), released FAQs about the implementation of Title I of Division BB of the Consolidated...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final calendar year (CY) 2024 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) on Nov. 2, 2023. The rule, which finalizes policies for Medicare payments under the PFS and other...more
5 Questions is a periodic feature produced by Cornerstone Research, which asks our professionals, senior advisors, or affiliated experts to answer five questions. We interview Professor Erin Trish, of the Schaeffer Center...more
On August 24, 2023, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas again largely ruled in favor of the Texas Medical Association and other plaintiffs (including air ambulance providers) and vacated certain...more
Effective January 1, 2023, The Joint Commission (TJC) eliminated 168 (or 14%) of its accreditation standards across all of its accreditation programs and revised 14 other standards. To further streamline its standards, TJC is...more
Given the trajectory, it is no longer surprising that the No Surprises Act (the Act) continues its turbulent path through implementation. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, on July 26, 2022, again...more
Five months ago, in TMA v. HHS, et al. (“TMA”), a federal court in Texas struck down portions of a controversial interim final rule (“Rule”) jointly issued by three federal executive agencies (“Departments”) intended to...more
In Mitchell v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.D., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 8818 (8th Cir. Mar. 20, 2020), the Eighth Circuit upheld the payment of 150% of Medicare rates for an out-of-network air ambulance flight, although the...more
On March 30, 2020, CMS issued additional Section 1135 blanket waivers to provide the American healthcare system with additional flexibility to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. CMS is authorized under Section 1135 of the...more
In February 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) model that will allow participating ambulance suppliers and other health care providers to work...more
Bass, Berry & Sims is pleased to announce the release of the 2019 edition of its Healthcare Fraud & Abuse Annual Review. Compiled by the firm’s Healthcare Fraud Task Force, the Review is an in-depth and comprehensive analysis...more
Report on Patient Privacy 20, no. 1 (January 2020) - In the waning days of 2019, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) didn’t halt the HIPAA enforcement momentum it had built up during the last quarter of the year, dinging...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Nov. 1, 2019, published the Calendar Year (CY) 2020 Final Rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS dictates Medicare rates and policies under Part B,...more
On September 5, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a final rule with comment period entitled, “Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process” (the “Final Rule”). The...more
On February 14, 2019, CMS’ Innovation Center announced its Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) Model for EMS / ambulance suppliers to partner with other health care providers such as telehealth entities and urgent...more
On February 27, 2019, CMS will hold its first webinar to provide an overview on its new Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) Model for suppliers of emergency medicine services (EMS) and ambulance suppliers. On...more
Uber announced recently its latest initiative, Uber Health, which will bring Uber to the forefront of the non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) industry....more
While recent legislation impacting the Emergency Medical Services (EMS)/ambulance industry drew attention inside the industry for its reduction in Health and Human Services’ (HHS) spend on non-emergent dialysis transports and...more
On February 9, 2018, after passing the House and Senate, the President signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA). The BBA amends the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) to increase the spending caps on both defense...more
The House Ways and Means Committee is considering a proposal from the Vermont Department of Taxes to reduce the amount of use tax a person can pay without providing records to prove his or her tax liability. The rate would...more
Those in the business of providing healthcare services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are all too familiar with the federal Anti-kickback Statute (AKS). Among other dreadful sanctions, it imposes criminal penalties on...more
Just in time for the New Year, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued final regulations (Final Regulations) that revised two existing Anti-Kickback Statute safe...more