The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (the “DRA”) mandated that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) continue to study specialty hospitals and their effect on local community health care delivery. The study was due to be completed by August 8, 2006. However, ranking Senators have asked CMS to collect further data before completing its report. They have expressed concern that the study includes data for states in which specialty hospitals are not allowed to operate and has not included some traditional hospitals that compete directly with specialty hospitals. The DRA permits an extension of the August 8 deadline, however.

Continue Reading Investigation of Specialty Hospitals

Under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, acute care hospitals that report certain quality data can receive increased reimbursement rates for inpatient services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently issued a final rule, on August 1, 2006, permitting acute care hospitals to receive, on average, a 3.5% increase in reimbursement rates for reporting quality data.

Continue Reading Hospital Reimbursement Increases for Reporting Quality Data

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (the “MMA”) requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) to enter into contracts with “Part A/Part B Medicare Administrative Contractors” by the year 2011. The contracts with these entities will replace the existing contracts that CMS has with intermediaries for Medicare Part A claims and with carriers for Medicare Part B claims. The new contracts will be awarded to entities on a state-grouped, geographic basis. These entities will be expected to handle both Part A and Part B claims.

Continue Reading First Medicare Administrative Contract Awarded

Gordon D. Polozola was awarded the Michaelle Pitard Wynne Professionalism Award at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Louisiana State Bar Association. The award was given to Gordon for his commitment to upholding the quality and integrity of the legal profession and his consideration toward peers and the general public. The award is presented annually to an individual who best exemplifies the courtesy, professionalism, and integrity displayed by the late Federal Magistrate Michaelle Pitard Wynne during her lifetime.

The Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal caused quite a stir in the Louisiana business community in December, 2005 when it rendered its decision in Doland v. ACM, 921 So.2d 196 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/30/05). In Doland, the Court was called upon to resolve a heated dispute over the termination of a lease of video poker machines. The video poker machines were being leased by ACM [FN1] for use in the Pat’s of Cameron Restaurant. Upon the expiration of the original three year term, written notice had been given of the restaurant’s desire to retain possession of the machines on a day-to-day basis, and to continue as such until the restaurant was able to obtain different machines, either through direct purchase or through another lessor. The restaurant had the machines disabled by the Louisiana State Police after ACM refused to remove the machines after removal was requested by the restaurant. Because of ACM’s refusal to remove them, the video poker machines remained disabled but on the premises of the restaurant, preventing the installation of new video poker machines, for roughly three months. During this time, the restaurant experienced a decrease in revenue not only from the lack revenue generated from the video poker machines themselves, but also from a decline in restaurant sales due to a lack of patronage.

Continue Reading A Sigh of Relief: Business Entities Enjoying Pass-Through Taxation Can Now Breathe a Little Easier Following the Initial Scare of Decision

On July 27, 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 270-148 H.R. 4157, which is intended to promote the use of health information technology (HIT) to improve the safety and quality of the nation’s health care system. This legislation has several significant aspects affecting the use of HIT, including codification of the Bush administration’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. According to the legislation, some of the National Coordinator for HIT’s ongoing responsibilities shall include maintaining and updating a strategic plan to guide the nationwide implementation of standards for HIT, serving as a principal advisor to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on the use of HIT, and coordinating HIT policies and programs across federal agencies.

Continue Reading U.S. House of Representatives Passes Health Information Technology Legislation

The Louisiana Solid Waste Regulations, LAC 33:VII (the “LSWR”), have largely existed in their current state since February 1993, when the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) completely rewrote the Aold@ solid waste regulations. Now, in the culmination of an over 20-month joint effort by LDEQ, the regulated community, and the public, LDEQ hopes to propose comprehensive amendments to the LSWR. (These amendments may be proposed by as early as July of this year.)   Unlike the 1993 revisions, however, the current draft amendments are not a wholesale rewrite of the LSWR. Instead, LDEQ proposes to reorganize, streamline, and supplement the existing regulations to make them easier to understand and apply. LDEQ also has attempted to ease the compliance burden, where possible, without increasing risk to public health or environment. That said, for the most part, the proposed amendments constitute a “tweaking,” not an overhaul, and existing regulations will continue in their current form, although perhaps reordered and renumbered.

Continue Reading PROPOSED REVISIONS TO LOUISIANA SOLID WASTE REGULATIONS

Owners of property in Louisiana continue to face problems and delays in collecting payments for property damage related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The vast majority of homeowner policies issued to insureds in the State of Louisiana, and possibly some commercial policies, limit an insureds right to file suit on insurance claims to a period of twelve months. See LSA-R.S. 22:691.   The one-year prescriptive date for damages related to Hurricane Katrina is August 29, 2007. The one-year prescriptive date for damage claims related to Hurricane Rita is September 24, 2007.

Continue Reading DO YOU KNOW YOUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS?

In-house attorneys and their outside counsel know that the discovery provisions in the current Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are out of touch with modern business practice in the age of electronic documents and data. The United States Supreme Court recently approved amendments to the Rules that will help bring the discovery rules regarding electronic data into the modern era. Absent Congressional action, these amendments will go into effect on December 1, 2006. This blog article summarizes the much-discussed “safe harbor” provision and other changes that should make life a little easier for corporate counsel who must balance the risk of litigation with the realities of modern business.

Continue Reading Electronic Evidence Update for In-House Counsel

The United States Department of Justice, in a case of first impression, attempted to hold a landowner responsible for the Coast Guard’s response costs in the clean up of abandoned oilfield equipment in United States of America v. Louisiana Land & Exploration Company, USDC, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 03-3208, Section “L”. Defendant LL&E was the surface owner of the property, which it purchased subject to an existing mineral lease. The lessee had engaged in operations for several years and had installed wells, tanks and other drilling and exploration equipment on the property. Although the operator allegedly ceased operations, LL&E never received any notification that the lease was being terminated.

In 2001, the US Coast Guard reported an oil spill from a storage tank on the property. Because the property allegedly was located in marshlands adjacent to a bayou which drained into the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard initiated clean up pursuant to the Oil Spill Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA 90″). Upon completion, it sought to recover response costs of approximately $800,000 from the landowner under the theory that the operator had abandoned its equipment and that, pursuant to OPA 90 and La. C.C. art. 493, LL&E became the owner of this equipment when the lease “terminated” and was therefore responsible for all damage it caused.

Continue Reading LANDOWNER NOT LIABLE UNDER OPA 90 FOR ABANDONED OILFIELD EQUIPMENT