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
Welcome to the strange and mysterious world of medical billing. If ever there was an industry in which the charges and the payments have no correlation, the medical industry is it. Medical billing can indeed be quite...more
Employer group health plans must make an annual disclosure of the plan's prescription drug and healthcare spending to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The disclosure, called the Prescription Drug Data...more
On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (“the Departments”) issued their 2024 Report to Congress on the enforcement and implementation of the Mental Health Parity and...more
On February 25, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients with Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information” (the “Order”), which...more
During the first weeks of the second Trump Administration, a number of executive orders and other actions have been implemented, with some having potential implications for employee benefits. Executive Orders can, and do,...more
With the 2024 reference year RxDC reporting deadline approaching in June, plan sponsors should re-familiarize themselves with the reporting requirements. The 2024 reference year RxDC Reporting Instructions have been released,...more
Each year, employers that provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare-eligible individuals through a group health plan must complete a two-step process regarding the prescription drug coverage they offer to active...more
March 1 brings two annual deadlines for employers that sponsor a group health plan for their employees....more
If you are a state or local government that sponsors a “self-funded” employee group health plan instead of using an insurance provider, you had previously been allowed to “opt out” of compliance with the following four...more
In just a few days’ time, recently promulgated federal final rules addressing sex-based nondiscrimination in the administration of health care benefits have created a flurry of healthcare industry activity. The angst arises...more
On February 6, 2024, the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a letter to all Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations and Medicare-Medicaid plans. The letter covered frequently asked questions and answers...more
During this election year, McDermottPlus is actively monitoring annual regulations that federal agencies are expected to release, as well as “ad hoc” regulations that will be released at the discretion of federal agencies. ...more
Seventeen healthcare stakeholder groups have come together to support The Value in Health Care Act, a bill that a bipartisan coalition reintroduced in Congress this summer. The bill supports a shift in the medical care...more
As employers look back at 2023 and ahead to 2024, there are so many compliance-related items to consider relating to their employee benefit plans. The rules employers are supposed to be complying with keep growing and...more
This newsletter provides updates employers should be aware of heading into 2024, including an outline of the updated 2024 retirement and welfare plan limits, instructions related to the “gag order” attestation requirements...more
The Medicare Secondary Payer provisions (MSP) apply to group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees, in both the private and public sectors. MSP’s mandatory reporting requirements are designed to...more
Employers, this is your annual reminder that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires sponsors of group health plans to notify eligible individuals whether the employer’s prescription drug coverage is...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) prohibits employer-sponsored group health plans from entering into agreements that contain so-called “gag clauses.” This prohibition generally restricts group health plans from...more
On January 30, 2023, the Biden administration announced its intention to make final extensions of both the COVID-19 National Emergency (NE) and the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) through May 11, 2023, at which point...more
On September 27, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released 2023 premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for Medicare Parts A and B, and the Medicare Part D income-related monthly adjustment...more
Does your company's health plan provide prescription drug coverage? If so, you have until October 15, 2022 to send a notice to individuals who are enrolled in Medicare Part A or Part B and are eligible for the company's...more
As we enter the fourth quarter of 2022, sponsors and administrators of employee benefit plans have a lot to juggle. From open enrollment and required notices to plan document deadlines, it is a busy time of year. Yet, there...more
The “law of unintended consequences” describes the general sociological principle that for every action there is an unintended or unanticipated outcome. An influential examination of the concept was published in 1936 by...more
On March 18, 2022, a group of providers successfully obtained a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of a Montana statute that prohibits employers, including healthcare providers, from compelling their employees to...more