August 28, 2023

Healthcare Authority Newsletter - August 2023 #4

W. Jerad Rissler

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

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News Briefs

Drugmakers Prepare for Legal Battle Over Drug Price Negotiations

Major drugmakers have tailored a legal crusade against the Biden administration's drug price negotiation program that legal scholars say appears strategically designed to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Astellas Pharma, and Johnson & Johnson are among those engaging in the sweeping legal challenge. They're joined by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in filing separate lawsuits against the Biden administration's Health and Human Services Department, alleging the Medicare drug-pricing negotiation program designed to lower costs for millions of beneficiaries and reduce the government's spending on expensive drugs is unconstitutional.

(Source: Bloomberg Law, 2023-08-17)

The Biden administration wants to crack down on private arrangements among some hospitals to reimburse themselves for taxes that help fund coverage for low-income people. It contends the practice violates federal law.

(Source: KFF Health News, 2023-08-16)

Big names in the staffing agency world are urging the U.S. Department of Labor to classify temporary staff in nursing homes, among other healthcare settings, as employees rather than independent contractors. The coalition of some 30 healthcare staffing companies sent a letter earlier this month to the DOL, calling for this change to the classification because of missed benefits for those nurses labeled as independent contractors, inadequate training of temporary workers, as well as higher legal risks for facilities with misclassified workers.

(Source: Skilled Nursing News, 2023-08-16)

When the pandemic rolled out across the world in early 2020, a lot of nursing communities turned to telemedicine. A new report shares just how much those communities leaned on telehealth services at the height of the pandemic, as well as before it and as restrictions were lifted.

(Source: McKnight's Long-Term Care News, 2023-08-21)

Growing numbers of physicians, other clinicians, and health system leaders are paying more attention to cybersecurity. Yet more is needed because attacks are increasing in 2023, creating a "New Era in Healthcare Cybersecurity."

(Source: Medical Economics, 2023-08-17)

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a research support agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, said that it is launching an initiative to find and help fund the development of cybersecurity technologies that can specifically improve defenses for digital infrastructure in U.S. healthcare. Dubbed the Digital Health Security project, also known as Digiheals, the effort will allow researchers and technologists to submit proposals through September 7 for cybersecurity tools geared specifically to healthcare systems, hospitals and clinics, and health-related devices.

(Source: Wired News, 2023-08-17)

Already struggling rural hospitals see an increasing financial threat from the steady growth in Medicare Advantage enrollment. Lacking the bargaining powers of their larger peers who depend on commercial payers to turn a profit, some rural hospitals are losing money on private coverage like Medicare Advantage.

(Source: Axios, 2023-08-21)

Online messages have become a linchpin of many patients' relationships with their doctors. But as the requests pile up many systems have found that the missives can claim a substantial portion of their practitioners' valuable time. As such, some organizations have announced billing policies that charge patients a fee for certain electronic messaging to providers.

(Source: FierceHealthcare, 2023-08-18)

As hospitals and health systems vie for nurses, they are becoming more creative with how they recruit, retain, and develop workers. Nursing leaders are seeking recruitment and retention strategies for the short term and the long term while keeping workers' well-being in mind.

(Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 2023-08-17)

Some nursing homes are seeing "significantly more" audits tied to managed care and dual plan Medicaid claims in certain states -- and potentially could see the same from Medicare too. This is all on top of an improper payment probe the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is conducting for Patient-Driven Payment Model claims that started on June 5, in which CMS auditors plan to conduct reviews of five claims per skilled nursing facility.

(Source: Skilled Nursing News, 2023-08-18)

Concierge medicine, once thought of as care available for only a fortunate few, is experiencing a remarkable evolution as physician pathways to the model have become more numerous than ever before. Physicians currently employed by hospitals and health systems, or as an employee in a group practice, are now able to consider providing care freed from the constraints of a traditional, volume-based, fee-for-service practice.

(Source: Medical Economics, 2023-08-15)

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.