Physician Compensation and Reimbursement
Polsinelli Podcast - Health Care Payment Changes: From Service to Value
Federal omnibus spending bill rolls back some Medicare payment cuts scheduled for 2023, 2024 - Buried within the $1.7-trillion spending package signed by the President on Dec. 29 was partial relief for a planned 4.5% cut...more
On January 4, 2023, the Department of Justice issued a press release stating that Jet Medical Inc. has agreed to pay $200,000 to resolve criminal allegations relating to a migraine headache treatment. Jet Medical and two...more
The federal False Claims Act results in a host of interesting relator claims. This one caught my eye. In United States of America v. Intermountain Healthcare, Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-00372-TC-CMR (U.S. Dist. Ct. D. Utah...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 8 (March 1, 2021) - According to a CMS spokesperson, “CMS has not yet determined when Targeted Probe and Educate reviews will resume.” Meanwhile, “CMS continues to temporarily pause...more
For several years, courts have wrestled with the question of whether subjective clinical decisions regarding the type and amount of treatment patients may need can be false for purposes of establishing False Claims Act (FCA)...more
Many health care providers treating senior patients rely on Medicare reimbursement and undertake significant measures to ensure proper billing and compliant practices. However, providers across the country may soon be subject...more
HHS Announces Final Rules Amending Stark Law Regulations and Anti-Kickback Statute - On November 20, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published...more
As a result of the Trump administration’s expanded Medicare telehealth coverage, providers are now able to offer and be reimbursed for a wider range of services provided via telemedicine. In light of the current COVID-19...more
Section 3710 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act directs the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase the weighting factor for payments under the Inpatient...more
Through a January 9, 2020, press release, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reported more than $3 billion in total recoveries from settlements and judgments from fraud-related civil matters brought under the False Claims Act...more
In early August, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas granted a hospital system’s motion to dismiss a False Claims Act case that illustrates the increasing intersections in FCA litigation between data...more
On September 9, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit issued a highly anticipated opinion addressing the critical question of when Medicare claims for reimbursement (in this case, claims for hospice care) can be considered “false” under...more
On September 9, in a setback for AseraCare but an overall win for hospice providers, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a Northern District of Alabama decision to grant a new trial in a False Claims Act (FCA) case against...more
On February 25, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement with a urology group practice to settle allegations of False Claims Act (FCA) violations tied to the alleged submission of improperly unbundled...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a $1.99 million False Claims Act (FCA) settlement with GenomeDx Biosciences Corp. (“GenomeDx”), a laboratory headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with operations in...more
Regulation - CMS Contemplating Telemedicine Changes - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published what it described as a "major proposed rule" that covers a number of topics that could have...more
We expect 2018 to be another year of rapid change within the health care industry. In this episode, Mary Beth Johnston highlights some of the key topics that the health care practice group will monitor in the coming year,...more
On January 19, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling granting summary judgment to a specialty pharmacy that was accused of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute and...more
Practical advice following the Primex Clinical Laboratories settlement - Earlier this year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $3.5 million settlement against Primex Clinical Laboratories, a California laboratory...more
The District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee held on June 22, 2017, that the timing requirements related to a physician's certification of need for home health services were not "material" to the Centers for...more
On March 7, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky reversed the October 27, 2016 criminal jury verdict against Kentucky cardiologist Dr. Richard E. Paulus, and acquitted him on all counts of health...more
Prompt Payment Discounts Not an Anti-Kickback Statute Violation - In United States of Am. et al. ex rel. Ruscher v. Omnicare, No. 15-20629, 2016 WL 6407128 (5th Cir. Oct. 28, 2016), the court of appeals affirmed summary...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced another multi-million dollar settlement of alleged False Claims Act violations on March 11, 2014. Specifically, Halifax Hospital Medical Center and Halifax Staffing, Inc. agreed to...more
A recent federal court decision allowed the federal government to proceed with a False Claims Act (FCA) case involving an allegation that a health care provider’s “services were so cursory that they were worthless.” U.S. v....more
On January 17, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will release Medicare expenditure data on specific physicians under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This new “transparency”...more