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Attorney	Latest Publications
William Berlin	Hospital-Physician Mergers: Practical Issues and Steps to Minimize Antitrust Risk Recently, hospitals have been actively acquiring primary care and specialty physician groups, resulting in the employment of those physicians. This trend has occurred largely in response to reimbursement changes and other…more Affordable Care Act, Antitrust Litigation, FTC, Healthcare, Hospital Mergers	See All Updates »
Jackson Boyd	Construction OberView: Ober|Kaler Obtains Confirmation of Significant Arbitration Award for Condo Unit Owner’s Claim Ober|Kaler Construction Group principal Raymond D. Burke and associates Matthew T. Vocci and Jackson B. Boyd secured judicial confirmation last year in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City of a significant arbitration award on…more Arbitration Awards, Common Elements, Condominium Associations, Condominiums, Failure To Maintain	See All Updates »
Andrew Campbell	The CFPB Loan Originator Compensation Rule Andrew Campbell of Ober|Kaler's Financial Institutions Group presented "The CFPB Loan Originator Compensation Rule," on the webinar entitled: MLO Compensation Rules: New Standards Change the Way You Do Business. The program was…more Arbitration, Brokers, CFPB, Dodd-Frank, Mortgage Loan Originators	See All Updates »
Elizabeth Cappiello	Sequestration and its Impact on the Construction Industry Pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011, sequestration is the process by which automatic across-the-board spending cuts are being imposed on government programs. Because Congress was unable to reach an agreement by its March…more Construction Contracts, Contract Claims, Contractors, Federal Budget, Modification	See All Updates »
Kristen Cilento Carter	Court Rules That Supervision and Enrollment Issues Don't Give Rise to False Claims Act Liability Following the ever-growing progeny of cases holding that Medicare conditions of participation do not give rise to False Claims Act (FCA) liability, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned an $11…more CIGNA, False Claims Act, Medicare, MedQuest, Supervision	See All Updates »
Thomas W. Coons	Court Grants Unexpected Victory to Providers on Medicare DSH Adjustment The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s opinion in Nazareth Hosp. v. Sebelius, slip op. no. 10-3513 furnished a surprising victory to two providers that challenged the calculation of the…more CMS, DSH, Medicaid, Medicare, Patients	See All Updates »
Christopher P. Dean	Physician Payment Sunshine Rule is Finalized The Final Rule implementing the Physician Payment Sunshine Act was announced on February 1st and published in the Federal Register on February 8th. The Final Rule establishes procedures for drug and device manufacturers to…more Applicable Manufacturers, Biologics, CMS, Common Ownership, Continuing Medical Education	See All Updates »
Joshua Freemire	HITECH and HIPAA: The Final Rule The final rule implementing new obligations under HITECH and changing obligations under HIPAA is finally out. Covered entities and business associates need to come into compliance with these requirements by September 23, 2013…more Business Associates, Data Breach, Data Protection, GINA, Healthcare	See All Updates »
Amy E. Garber	Recent Amendments to Virginia Mechanics' Lien Statute Require Contractor Licenses Under March 2013 amendments to the Virginia mechanics’ lien statute, contractors seeking mechanics’ liens must now demonstrate that they are licensed to complete their work. As a result, contractors who do not obtain the…more Contractors, Licenses, Mechanics Lien	See All Updates »
Leslie Demaree Goldsmith	CMS Proposes New Standard for Hospital Inpatient Admissions As part of its proposed inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) rule for FY 2014, CMS introduced a new standard for determining whether an inpatient admission to an acute care hospital is appropriate. Specifically, CMS…more CMS, Healthcare, Medicare, Medicare Part B, Physicians	See All Updates »
Penny Somer Greif	Small Business Securities Bulletin - Smaller Reporting Companies Become Subject to Say-on-Pay in 2013; New Iran/Terrorism Reporting A periodic bulletin keeping small businesses informed about current developments in securities law and related matters. For the first time, smaller reporting companies are subject, in 2013, to the stockholder advisory…more Anti-Terrorism Act, Disclosure Requirements, Executive Compensation, Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act, Proxy Statements	See All Updates »
Carel Hedlund	CMS Revises Part B Billing Policy for Unnecessary Inpatient Admissions For many years, CMS policy has been that, if an inpatient admission was denied for medical necessity reasons, the hospital could bill under Part B for only a limited set of services that, significantly, did not include…more Administrative Appeals, ALJ, CMS, Hospitals, Medicare	See All Updates »
James Holloway	Worthless Services: Giving Nothing Can Cost You a Lot Under the False Claims Act Numerous courts have recognized that knowingly billing the federal government for “worthless services” may be a violation of the False Claims Act (FCA). Recently, an Illinois nursing home learned how costly worthless services…more False Claims Act, Nursing Homes, Penalties, Quality Assurance Programs, Treble Damages	See All Updates »
Julie Kass	OIG Updates Special Advisory Bulletin on the Effect of Exclusion from Federal Health Programs On May 8, 2013, the OIG issued an update that supersedes and replaces its 1999 Special Advisory Bulletin, The Effect of Exclusion from Participation in Federal Health Care Programs. The updated bulletin continues to stress the…more Databases, Exclusions, Health Insurance, Healthcare, OIG	See All Updates »
Walter Kirkman	Maryland Again Changes Recordation Tax Payable on Indemnity Deeds of Trust - Effective as of July 1, 2013 Recordation Tax Now Charged Upon Recordation of Indemnity Deeds of Trust Securing a Guarantee of a Loan or Related Loans of $3,000,000 or More - Governor Martin O’Malley signed legislation this week that will again…more Deed of Trust, IDOT, Indemnification, New Legislation, Recordation Taxes	See All Updates »
Joseph Kovars	Careful Drafting Can Prevent Dispute Clauses from Being Ignored Two recent cases highlight the pitfalls facing construction parties -- owners, contractors and subcontractors -- when they use fairly common contract clauses that address how they want disputes decided. In one case, the clause…more Arbitration, Choice-of-Law, Construction Contracts, Contract Drafting, Forum Selection Clause	See All Updates »
Kevin LaTulip, Jr.	Maryland Again Changes Recordation Tax Payable on Indemnity Deeds of Trust - Effective as of July 1, 2013 Recordation Tax Now Charged Upon Recordation of Indemnity Deeds of Trust Securing a Guarantee of a Loan or Related Loans of $3,000,000 or More - Governor Martin O’Malley signed legislation this week that will again…more Deed of Trust, IDOT, Indemnification, New Legislation, Recordation Taxes	See All Updates »
John S. Linehan	Deferred Prosecution Agreements: How an Effective Compliance Program Can Help You Plan for the Unpredictable During the past several years, prosecutors have increasingly used Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) against corporations in enforcing white collar criminal statutes. DPAs have enabled companies to avoid the costs and…more Anti-Kickback Statute, CMS, Compliance, Corporate Integrity Agreement, Deferred Prosecution Agreements	See All Updates »
Kristina Longo	State Action Immunity Does Not Apply Without Clear State Policy The United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in FTC v. Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc., No. 11-1160, 568 U.S. __ (2013), makes clear that a state’s authorization to act in a manner with potentially anticompetitive…more Antitrust Litigation, Competition, FTC, Hospitals, Immunity	See All Updates »
William Mathias	OIG Calls PODs "Inherently Suspect" Making its most strongly worded statement to date, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert on Physician-Owned Entities on March 26, 2013, calling physician-owned…more Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Anti-Kickback Statute, Client Referrals, Fraud, Healthcare	See All Updates »
Robert Mazer	Self-Audit Results Found Sufficient to Sustain False Claims Act Complaint District Court Finds That Medical Group’s Failure to Further Investigate Audit Results May Violate Requirement to Return Overpayments - Background - Internal audits of third-party payment claims – frequently…more Audits, Billing, CMS, Document Coding, False Claims Act	See All Updates »
Alan Mogol	California Heavy-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Regulations Lessors of tractors or trailers may be subject to California's regulations pertaining to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. California's regulations pertain to heavy-duty tractors and 53-foot or longer box-type…more EPA, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Pollution Control, Tractor-Trailers	See All Updates »
Christine Morse	Recent Court Decisions Affecting DSH Percentage Calculations May Impact Participation in the 340B Drug Discount Program A number of recent developments affecting the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) percentage calculation methodologies will likely have significant impact on 340B covered entities. DSH hospitals that participate in the 340B…more CMS, Covered Entities, Disproportionate Share Adjustments, Healthcare, Hospitals	See All Updates »
Aaron Rabinowitz	Conflict of Interest in Research Regulations: Is Your Institution Compliant with the New Rules? Although the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the final conflict of interest rule last year, many entities conducting research that is funded under Public Health Service (PHS) grants, cooperative agreements,…more Compliance, Conflicts of Interest, HHS, Research Funding	See All Updates »
Eric Radz	Minority Business Enterprise Program Adds New Wrinkles Last fall, Maryland’s renewed Minority Business Enterprise Program was re-enacted with important additions. The updated statute incorporates recommendations and comments that the State received from the Governor’s Office of…more Attorney Generals, Bids, Department of Transportation, Governor's Office of Minority Affairs, Minority Business Enterprise Program	See All Updates »
Stuart M. Schabes	FATCA – 2013 and Beyond Tax lawyer Stuart Schabes co-presented “FATCA – 2013 and Beyond” at The Perfect Storm: US Tax Legislation and IRS Compliance 2013, a program hosted by Philip Stein & Associates and ERM. The discussion included: - FATCA…more Bilateral Agreements, Compliance, Enforcement, EU, FATCA	See All Updates »
Donna Senft	Phase Two Edits - Temporarily on Hold In its April 25, 2013 Medicare FFS Provider e-News, CMS announced that due to “technical issues” it would be delaying the implementation of the Phase 2 claims edits…more CMS, Medicare, PECOS	See All Updates »
Gina L. Simms	Deferred Prosecution Agreements: How an Effective Compliance Program Can Help You Plan for the Unpredictable During the past several years, prosecutors have increasingly used Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) against corporations in enforcing white collar criminal statutes. DPAs have enabled companies to avoid the costs and…more Anti-Kickback Statute, CMS, Compliance, Corporate Integrity Agreement, Deferred Prosecution Agreements	See All Updates »
Steven Smith	Good Governance for General Counsel: What Your Board Needs to Know Now A host of regulatory and finance reforms have ushered in significant changes for health care entities, and likewise, for the boards that guide them. How can general counsel broach these changes with their boards and steer…more Affordable Care Act, Board of Directors, Compliance, Conflicts of Interest, Corporate Governance	See All Updates »
Howard Sollins	Final Regulations Governing Closure of Long Term Care Facilities The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final regulation to further implement section 6113 of the federal health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The March 19, 2013,…more CMS, Compliance, HHS, Long-Term Care, Medicaid	See All Updates »
Mark A. Stanley	IRS Proposes Regulations Regarding Community Health Needs Assessments for Charitable Hospitals The IRS has released its proposed regulations [PDF] detailing the requirements for conducting and reporting Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) under section 501(r)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which were established…more Affordable Care Act, CHNA, Documentation, Healthcare, Hospitals	See All Updates »
E. John Steren	Price Fixing and Leveraging Concerns Alleviated by Promoted Efficiencies: More FTC Guidance on Clinical Integration The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has provided additional guidance, and comfort, to physicians seeking to clinically integrate for the purpose of, among other things, jointly negotiating payor contracts. This additional…more Clinical Integration, FTC, Norman PHO, Payor Contracts, Physicians	See All Updates »
Lisa Stevenson	CMS Clarifies IRF Claim Processing CMS published revisions to the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) section of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Chapter 3, Section 140 of Pub. 100-04) in Transmittal 2638 on January 18, 2013. According to CMS, the…more CMS, IRF Claim Processing, Medicare	See All Updates »
Sarah E. Swank	NOIs Due Soon to Apply for 2014 ACO Program The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) for accountable care organizations (ACOs) established under the Affordable Care Act is about to kick-off its second year with a new round of applications for the January 1, 2014 start…more ACOs, CMS, Healthcare, Medicare, Notice of Intent	See All Updates »
Sanford Teplitzky	OIG Calls PODs "Inherently Suspect" Making its most strongly worded statement to date, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert on Physician-Owned Entities on March 26, 2013, calling physician-owned…more Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Anti-Kickback Statute, Client Referrals, Fraud, Healthcare	See All Updates »
Barbara Werther	How Sequestration May Impact Government Construction Contracts Pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011, sequestration is the process by which automatic across-the-board spending cuts are being imposed on government programs. Because Congress was unable to reach an agreement by its March…more Anti-Deficiency Act, Contractors, Federal Funding, Sequestration, Spending Cuts	See All Updates »
James Wieland	HITECH and HIPAA: The Final Rule The final rule implementing new obligations under HITECH and changing obligations under HIPAA is finally out. Covered entities and business associates need to come into compliance with these requirements by September 23, 2013…more Business Associates, Data Breach, Data Protection, GINA, Healthcare	See All Updates »

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