Hospice Audit Series: Beyond Part D, OIG Scrutinizes the Hospice Industry to the Tune of $6.6 Billion
Kim Brandt on the Latest Washington Healthcare News
Part Two: The MFN Drug Pricing Rule and the Rebate Rule: Where Do We Go From Here?
Part One: Two new Medicare Drug Pricing Rules in One Day: What are the MFN and the Rebate Drug Pricing Rules?
K&L Gates Triage: 340B Update: CMS Finalizes 340B Program Reimbursement Cut on Part B Drugs
K&L Gates Triage: 340B Regulatory Update: CMS Proposal and Draft Executive Order Could Have Big Impact on 340B Program
This issue of McDermott’s Healthcare Regulatory Check-Up highlights regulatory activity for June 2024. We discuss several US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agency actions, including guidance regarding hospital...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued several important updates concerning the reporting of Average Sales Price (ASP) with potential implications for manufacturers. ...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to take steps implementing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Newly revised guidance issued on December 14, 2023, makes notable changes and clarifications...more
Although most of the recent focus around the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) by the press and industry stakeholders has been on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, the IRA has several other...more
In its August 15, 2023, Enforcement listserv notice, the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published its Work Plan Updates for August. This article will highlight three of the...more
On February 9, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released initial program guidance addressing the inflation rebate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). These provisions apply to how...more
On February 7, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report entitled, “Technical Assistance Brief: Implementation of Inflation-Indexed Rebates for Part B Drugs.” ...more
From an agency guidance and regulatory developments perspective, 2022 was fairly quiet until the latter part of the year. Consistent with past practice, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) continue to issue guidance regarding the implementation of the drug pricing provisions of...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule late last year to harmonize the standard it would apply for providers to identify and refund overpayments with the “knowledge” standard under the False Claims...more
On January 3, 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) publicly released two reports with respect to Medicare Part B average sales price (ASP)....more
On December 19, 2022, OIG released its annual report analyzing Medicare Part B spending on laboratory tests over the past year. According to OIG, Medicare Part B spending on laboratory tests increased 17% from $8.0 billion in...more
On December 27, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule which, in part, seeks to amend the existing regulations for Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D regarding the standard for when an...more
OIG issued a report last week examining alleged billing irregularities relating to COVID-19 tests (the Report). The Report explains that in response to increased Medicare Part B spending on COVID-19 tests in 2020, OIG...more
As the year comes to a close, the government has signaled a specific focus on clinical laboratories for 2023. On December 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued...more
Introduction - On 6 December 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) issued a report (Report) that summarized findings of HHS-OIG’s review of laboratories with questionably high...more
In a follow-up to its recent reports on billing outside the hospice benefit for drugs and durable medical equipment (DME), the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) new data report identifies billions being billed to Medicare...more
Last week, OIG released a report analyzing trends in the last decade relating to Medicare payments for hospice beneficiaries outside of the hospice per diem. In the report, OIG notes that CMS has taken the position that...more
On January 19, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released a favorable advisory opinion, OIG Advisory Opinion No. 22-01 (the “Opinion”), analyzing a proposed expansion of...more
On January 25, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that the Secretary of HHS violated the due process rights of Medicare beneficiaries by failing to provide an administrative...more
This week in Washington: CBO Scores Reconciliation Package While House Waits....more
Kim Brandt, partner at Tarplin, Downs & Young has long provided the healthcare community with her expertise in all things Washington, having spent substantial time at CMS, the OIG at HHS and on Capitol Hill. She’ll be...more
On October 13, 2021, the in-person portion of the annual informaconnect Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (MDRP) Conference concluded in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A day earlier, on October 12, 2021, a joint hearing was held in...more
On September 30, 2021, OIG posted Advisory Opinion No. 21-14 regarding a chiropractor’s proposal to extend an existing discount program covering a package of services to include federal health care program beneficiaries. OIG...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has reported that in 2020, the government prosecuted dozens of laboratory owners and operators for anti-kickback related offenses responsible for hundreds of millions in alleged federal...more