The State of Healthcare Enforcement
Hospice Insights Podcast - Election Inspection: Be Proactive to Avoid Costly Election Statement Denials
Medicaid Cuts: Potential Challenges and Legal Implications for Long-Term Care Facilities — Assisted Living and the Law Podcast
False Claims Act Insights - How Payment Suspensions Can Impact FCA Litigation
Federal Court Strikes Down FDA Rule on LDTs - Thought Leaders in Health Law®
UPIC Audits
AGG Talks: Home Health & Hospice Podcast - Episode 8: Hospice Special Focus Program: Pumping the Brakes
Hospice Insights Podcast - Upping the Ante: Will CMS’s Enhanced Oversight Efforts Cause Hospices to Fold?
Podcast — Drug Pricing: What’s in the New CMS Medicaid Final Rule?
Hospice Insights Podcast - What a Difference No Deference Makes: Courts No Longer Bow to Administrative Agencies
Preparing for CMS Staffing Mandates — Assisted Living and the Law Podcast
Hospice Insights Podcast - Meet the New Laws, Same as the Old Laws: Overpayment Recoupment Update
Podcast — Drug Pricing: Takeaways From the Chicago Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit
Podcast — Drug Pricing: How the Demise of Chevron Deference and Other Litigation May Impact the Pharmaceutical Industry
The CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Rules
Podcast — Drug Pricing: How Are Payers Responding to the IRA?
Findings from Gibbins’ Annual Healthcare Bankruptcy Report
A Fond Farewell: Musings on the End of the Medicare Advantage Hospice Carve-In Demonstration
Video: Braidwood v. Becerra – Challenging the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Services Coverage Provision – Thought Leaders in Health Law
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 31, 2025, issued the final rule to update Medicare payment policies and rates for fiscal year 2026 under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the...more
The long term care industry is currently in the midst of a labor crisis, with nursing homes in particular experiencing chronic and severe staffing shortages. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a rapidly aging population,...more
Below is Alston & Bird’s Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies,...more
Congress is officially in recess for the month of August and will return after Labor Day. On the regulatory front, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final fiscal year (FY) 2024 Inpatient...more
News Briefs - Debt Limit Deal Will Claw Back $27.1B in Unspent COVID Funding - President Joe Biden signed a debt limit deal that includes some minimal cuts for healthcare programs just days before the federal government was...more
On May 31, 2023, CMS issued a final rule (Final Rule) repealing COVID-19 vaccination requirements for staff and testing requirements for staff and patients of long-term care (LTC) facilities. These were previously required...more
On June 5, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule in the Federal Register that withdraws COVID-19 vaccination mandates for certain providers’ staff members and withdraws long-term care...more
The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a Final Rule regarding the former COVID-19 vaccine requirements. The Final Rule withdraws the COVID-19 health care staff...more
At the onset of the COVID-19 PHE, CMS was permitted to issue several temporary emergency statutory and regulatory waivers to help providers appropriately respond to the pandemic. On May 1, 2023, the Secretary released a memo...more
After more than three years, the Public Health Emergency (PHE) related to COVID-19 is scheduled to end on Thursday, May 11, 2023. The PHE declaration under the Public Health Service Act has allowed the Secretary of the...more
Key provisions that provided flexibility to long-term care providers and helped alleviate administrative burdens will expire May 11, 2023. Long-term care facilities (LTCs), skilled nursing facilities (SNF), and nursing...more
The White House recently announced that the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) declarations will end on May 11, 2023. These declarations have been in place since the beginning of the COVID-19...more
Post-acute and long term care providers have endured a state of distress since March 2020, not only from the challenges created by the COVID-19 virus, but also from ever-increasing regulatory compliance burdens, changes in...more
As surges in various respiratory illnesses – including COVID-19 – loom over holiday gatherings, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) held an Open Door Forum for skilled nursing facility (“SNF”) providers...more
While the pandemic is not over, the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) is expected to expire soon, which means that a number of operational, safety, and billing standards that were waived at the beginning of the pandemic...more
On October 26, 2022, CMS issued revised guidance on COVID-19 vaccination requirements for staff working for Medicare-certified and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers. While the revised guidance was issued in separate...more
The world of healthcare has always been ever-changing. Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be difficult for providers to stay abreast of the numerous regulatory changes. Recently, the Rhode Island Department of Health...more
On Friday, July 29, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its 2023 Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule on 2023 Medicare rates for skilled nursing facilities...more
On August 18, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued guidance regarding the looming end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”) and the associated emergency authority waivers, regulations,...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Aug. 1, 2022, released the final rule for the federal fiscal year (FY) 2023 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) payment system....more
Below is Alston & Bird's Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies,...more
In direct response to the significant challenges experienced by long term care (LTC) facilities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden-Harris Administration announced its commitment to improving safety and quality of...more
This Week in Washington: CMS Releases the Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule...more
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS enacted several temporary waivers in an effort to give health care providers flexibility to respond to the pandemic. On April 7, CMS announced that it would be phasing out some of these...more
Certain COVID-19 emergency declaration blanket waivers are being phased out by the federal government, and health care providers should take steps to determine whether current arrangements are compliant. As background, in...more