The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (“CMS”) issued a final rule on February 2, 2016 regarding the requirements for a face-to-face encounter for patients receiving home health services payable by Medicaid. In order to ensure that states and providers appropriately implement the provisions in the
On February 12, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) promulgated the final rule on the requirement that providers and suppliers receiving funds under the Medicare program report and return overpayments by the later of sixty (60) days after the date on which
On December 20, 2015, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners’ (“LSBME”) published in the Louisiana Register the final rules for processing complaints against physicians and investigations regarding the practice of medicine. The new rules are contained in Chapter 97 of LAC 46:XLV and are a result of Act 441 of
By Brian Carnie
On December 28, 2015, the IRS announced an automatic extension of the Affordable Care Act reporting deadlines for distributing and/or filing the 1094-B/1095-B and 1094-C/1095-C forms. This relief only applies for the 2015 calendar year.
For employers who were considered applicable large employer members (“ALE members”) in 2015, the new deadline for
On December 4, 2015, the United States Supreme Court granted a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States and Commonwealth of Massachusetts ex rel. Julio Escobar and Carmen Correa. The Petition was filed by Universal Health Services, Inc. (“UHS”) challenging the United States Court
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on June 18, 2015, that the efforts of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a joint initiative between the DOJ and HHS to prevent and deter Medicare fraud, resulted in a
On June 9, 2015, the OIG issued a new Fraud Alert, cautioning physicians who enter into compensation arrangements such as medical directorships to ensure that the arrangements reflect fair market value for bona fide services that the physicians actually provide. The OIG reiterated that a compensation arrangement could violate the Anti-kickback
Many employers in the past have offered employees cash to reimburse the purchase of an individual policy from a private insurance carrier or on the Marketplace (aka the Exchange) or for other substantiated medical expenses in place of employer sponsored group health coverage. However, the federal government has recently taken the
During the 2014 Legislative session, the Louisiana Legislature enacted the Louisiana Telehealth Access Act (the “Act”), La. R.S. 40:1300.401 et seq. In the Act, the Louisiana Legislature declared telehealth to be “extremely valuable” because it enhances access to care, promotes cost-effective delivery of care, and could improve health outcomes.[1] The
On February 25, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion against the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners (the “NC Board”) finding that the NC Board had violated federal antitrust law by issuing cease and desist letters to non-dental licensed persons who performed teeth whitening services. The