Insights on Health Care

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released its annual proposed update to the hospital outpatient prospective payment system for calendar year 2018.

Health Care Partner Tom Jeffry and 44 other health care executives spoke to Becker’s Hospital Review about the key trends disrupting the traditional hospital and how institutions can prepare for the future.

AnMed Health, a hospital located in South Carolina, recently agreed to pay almost $1.3 million dollars and enter into a settlement agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General to resolve allegations that it violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.

Earlier this year, Abid Hospital in Pakistan began accepting PakCoin (a cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin) as payment for healthcare services, paving the way for innovative medical payment solutions in Asia.

Last week, the FDA released a draft guidance titled Product Identifier Requirements Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act—Compliance Policy, with a 60-day comment period ending around September 3, 2017.

Nevada is the latest state in the Union to adopt some form of a drug pricing transparency law, after Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill No. 539 into law on June 15, 2017.

Health Care partner Lowell Brown spoke with the LA Times for an article titled “What the Senate healthcare bill could mean for Californians.”

After weeks of secrecy and speculation about the content of the Senate’s health care bill, Senate Republicans released a “discussion draft” of their bill on Thursday.

Medical providers seeking to pursue state law claims for payment from health care payers scored a win in the Second Circuit last month in a holding that affirms providers’ ability to hold health care insurers and other payers to their payment representations and promises.

Earlier this month, the Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force sent to Congress the Report On Improving Cybersecurity in the Health Care Industry.

Alleged price gouging by drug manufacturers and distributors has been in the news the past several years, causing many lawmakers to threaten to take action. 

Pursuant to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, manufacturers participating in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program must pay an Additional Discount on Non-Innovator products to the extent the Average Manufacturer Prices of their products are rising faster than inflation.

The Supreme Court issued a stunning ERISA decision on Monday, overturning the law in the three federal circuits as to what constitutes a “church plan” that is exempt from ERISA’s requirements.

Last week, eClinicalWorks (ECW)—an electronic health records (EHR) vendor—settled an intervened False Claims Act case with the Department of Justice for $155 million.

The Supreme Court issued a stunning ERISA decision on Monday, overturning the law in the three federal circuits as to what constitutes a “church plan” that is exempt from ERISA’s requirements.

The 2017 edition of Legal 500 US has rated 50 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as national leaders in their field. In addition, 17 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked among the best in the country. Legal 500 highlighted Arent Fox’s extensive capabilities across a number of areas of the law.

Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has recognized 32 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as leaders in their field.

In a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday, May 19, 2017, the Health Resources and Services Administration announced that it would further delay the effective date of a final rule applicable to all drug manufacturers participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

In recent months, a number of bills have been introduced or passed in Congress that would ease federal health care programs’ restrictions on telehealth. Currently, Medicare has strict limitations on telehealth.

A recent California Supreme Court ruling could significantly impact trials of physician “whistleblower” claims under California Health & Safety Code Section 1278.5 – maybe.  

On May 10, 2017, the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced a settlement with Texas-based Memorial Hermann Health System for $2.4 million due to MHHS’s unauthorized disclosure of patient protected health information.

Earlier today, numerous hospitals operated by Britain’s National Health Service suffered a ransomware event in which hospital computer systems were encrypted, phone lines became inoperable, patients were diverted, and a Bitcoin ransom was demanded.

Health Care partner Linda Baumann and associates Hillary Stemple and Kathryn Steffen authored an article for Bloomberg BNA’s Health Law Reporter on the revised Voluntary Self-Referral (Stark) Disclosure Protocol, which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services posted on March 28, 2017.