K&L Gates Triage: An Insider’s Perspective on the Health Care Debate in Washington, DC
Welcome to the seventh issue of Health Headlines, a newsletter created by lawyers in our Healthcare practice. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 383 into law, placing new restrictions on pharmacy benefit...more
Employers must check its employees, contractors and vendors to see if an individual or organization is excluded from participating in federal and/or state programs. While there are a variety of exclusion programs at the...more
This post is the first in a series dedicated to Colorado’s Medicaid finance and payment systems, challenges faced by those programs, and opportunities for expansion. The Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability...more
Proposed Protections for Patient Data Related to Reproductive Care - On April 12, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) proposed a new rule to strengthen HIPAA...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
The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently transmitted a memorandum to the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services detailing the findings of the Massachusetts state auditor's...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it will make $25.5 billion available in new COVID-19 relief funds to providers through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). To...more
In the early morning of Feb. 27, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, by a 219-212 vote. Two Democrats joined with a united Republican caucus to oppose the...more
Enrolling in such a CMS-sponsored innovation model now has an added benefit: a new Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) safe harbor. ...In its mission to reward value over volume, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS)...more
On October 2, 2020, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Alex M. Azar II, announced the renewal of the public health emergency declaration due to the continued consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 90-day renewal...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule on September 5, 2019, intended to address program integrity and vulnerability issues....more
Alston & Bird’s Week in Review provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and Congressional committee action; reports, studies, and analyses; and other health...more
The OIG added six new items to its Work Plan in the July 2018 update. Areas addressed include HHS cybersecurity vulnerabilities, increased payments for transfer claims with outliers, oversight of funds for Access Increases in...more
Even with the prospect of Obamacare repeal and replace on the backburner for now, the federal government continues to focus on health care. Following August recess, Congress will have less than four weeks to work through...more
More active SIUs may mean more scrutiny of Medicaid providers - The Texas Office of Inspector General (OIG) has just completed its first full year of reforms under a new Inspector General. 2017 may reveal whether these...more
On December 21, 2016, the HHS OIG posted a report summarizing its early review of CMS’s management of the implementation of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) and related findings (“Report”). The Report concludes that, while...more
Before we all turn our full attention to the nominations of Representative Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and policy consultant Seema Verma to lead CMS, we need to remember that there are still...more
Each year, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issues a Work Plan that summarizes new and ongoing OIG reviews and areas of focused attention for the coming year and beyond....more
The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services recently posted an Advisory Opinion describing a proposed arrangement by an academic medical center that offers free transportation and lodging to...more
On September 25, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule entitled “Medicare Program: Medicare Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests Payment System”. This proposed rule would...more
In the constantly evolving climate of health care enforcement, maintaining a comprehensive and effective internal compliance program has taken on added significance, especially in the past few years. While detailed coverage...more
This article is part of a series that takes an in-depth look at several proposals that would affect managed care organizations, health care providers and other industry stakeholders participating in, and contracting with...more
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently certified the “positive return on investment” from the FPS and recommended its continued operation, although the OIG determined that it was not feasible at this time to expand...more
On April 16, 2015, President Obama signed into law H.R.2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), a critical piece of health care legislation which represents significant movement towards a health...more
On April 16, President Barack Obama signed into law the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015,” ending a perennial struggle over the Medicare reimbursement formula for physicians. Although the law is most...more