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2007 La. Acts No. 361 amended Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 561 to provide an exception to the abandonment period for cases filed before the landfall of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The amendment extends to five (5) years the abandonment period for cases that meet the requirements set forth in La. C.C.P. art. 561(2). Article 561 states, in pertinent part, as follows:

A.       (1) An action, except as provided in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, is abandoned when the parties fail to take any step in its prosecution or defense in the trial court for a period of three years, unless it is a succession proceeding:

(a) Which has been opened;

(b) In which an administrator or executor has been appointed; or

(c) In which a testament has been probated.Continue Reading Abandonment Period for Cases Filed Prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Extended to Five Years by Recent Amendment of Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 561

On October 19, 2007, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted Advisory Opinion No. 07-13 concerning ownership in ophthalmology Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs). The Advisory Opinion can be found at http://www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/advisoryopinions/2007/AdvOpn07-13.pdf

A group practice and a surgical center requested an opinion from the OIG regarding whether a Proposed Arrangement would violate the anti-kickback statute. The Proposed Arrangement called for the addition of optometrists as owners of three single-specialty ophthalmology ASCs.Continue Reading OIG Issues Advisory Opinion on Ambulatory Surgical Centers

The Kean Miller Healthcare Regulatory team will present an informative seminar on the new Stark III regulations on Wednesday, November 14th from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Juban’s Restaurant in Baton Rouge.

Topics will include physician recruitment and compensation, non-monetary gifts, hospital ownership and investment by physicians, professional services agreements, radiology arrangements, and equipment and…

GENERAL DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS

Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1306: requires employers to notify the Office of Workers’ Compensation within ten (10) days of actual knowledge of an injury resulting in death or lost time in excess of one week after the injury. This rule applies even if no claim for workers’ compensation benefits has been filed.

Ø    The form generally used for this purpose is a Form 1007 Employer First Report of Injury/Illness (a copy of which is attached for your ready reference).

Ø    If an employer elects not to use the Form 1007, he must provide, at the minimum, the following information: (1) The name, address, and business of the employer; (2)  The name, Social Security number, street, mailing address, telephone number, and occupation of the employee; (3) he cause and nature of the injury or death; (4) The date, time, and the particular locality where the injury or death occurred; (5) The wages, as defined in R.S. 23:1021(10), the worker was earning at the time of the injury.

Ø    All information and records submitted pursuant to this Section shall be confidential and privileged, shall not be public records, and shall not be subject to subpoena. However, such information or records may be used to compile statistical data wherein the identity of the individual or employer is not disclosed.Continue Reading Summary of Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Laws

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its Fiscal Year 2008 Work Plan on October 1, 2007. The OIG annual Work Plan gives an advance preview of what issues the OIG has on its radar for the upcoming year.

The OIG stated in its opening message of the Work Plan that it will continue to concentrate its efforts in evaluating and investigating Medicare and Medicare programs, representing 80% of its resources.  The remaining 20% of the OIG resources will be spent on public health and human services programs.

Target areas for the OIG in 2008 include: Long Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), patient care and safety at physician-owed specialty hospitals, accreditation of hospitals, and “place of service” for physician coding.Continue Reading Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Issues Fiscal Year 2008 Work Plan

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an advisory opinion on October 5, 2007 regarding the Physician Recruitment Exception to the federal physician self-referral prohibition, otherwise known as the Stark Law.  In this advisory opinion, CMS essentially concluded that a hospital could not amend an existing physician recruitment agreement to delete a provision requiring the physician to pay back monies under an income guarantee to the hospital during the financial guarantee period of the agreement.
Continue Reading CMS Issues Advisory Opinion on Physician Recruitment Exception to the Stark Law

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published on September 5, 2007 the long-awaited Phase III of the federal regulations of the physician self-referral prohibition commonly known as the Stark Law. CMS commented that the Phase III regulations finalize, and respond to public comments to the first two phases, or Phase I and Phase II, of the rulemaking process by CMS to adopt regulations to interpret and enforce the Stark Law.

The significance of the release of the Phase III Stark Law regulations, however, is tempered by the inclusion of several proposed changes to the Stark Law by CMS in the 2008 proposed Medicare physician fee schedule. Physicians and other healthcare providers should nonetheless adopt the changes and new interpretations in the Phase III Stark Law regulations while continuing to monitor the changes to the Stark Law adopted in the “final” version of the 2008 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.Continue Reading CMS Releases Phase III of the Final Stark Law Regulations

On August 22, 2007, the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal rendered a decision – In the Matter of Waste Management of Louisiana, L.L.C. (Docket No. 2006 CA 1011) – that may affect the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s approval of previous pollution control projects under PSD/NNSR provisions. Appellants LEAN and Concerned Citizens of Livingston Parish asked the court to reverse the lower court’s affirmation of LDEQ’s issuance of a Title V air permit issued to Woodside Landfill in 2004. In 2003, LDEQ exempted from PSD review a pollution control project to install a gas collection and control system and bioremediation area at the landfill. The later-issued Title V permit included conditions for the flare that was installed as part of the project. It is unclear from the facts stated in the opinion whether the original 2003 authorization-to-construct the project or the 2004 permit also authorized an expansion of the landfill. EPA issued a letter of no objection to the Title V permit.
Continue Reading First Circuit Decision to Potentially Affect Air Permitting in Louisiana

Earlier this year, I wrote an article regarding the Office of Inspector General’s (“OIG”) December 2006 review of Louisiana’s Medical Assistance Programs Integrity Law (“MAPIL”). At that time, the OIG had determined that MAPIL did not meet the requirements outlined in Section 6031 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (“DRA”) and, therefore, Louisiana was not entitled to the financial incentives outlined in the DRA. In my January 2007 article, I mentioned that it was likely Louisiana would amend MAPIL to comply with the DRA requirements. It now appears that the legislature has attempted to do just that.
Continue Reading Louisiana Revises Its State False Claims Act in Light of OIG Review