In a long-anticipated action, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued earlier today (November 4, 2021) emergency regulations requiring all eligible staff who work at health care facilities that...more
The world continues to struggle with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and pressures mount on health care organizations to properly share personal health information. While resources abound on how federal rules such as...more
In a letter to state health officials on January 7 (SHO# 21-001), CMS encouraged state Medicaid and CHIP programs to address and support social determinants of health (SDOH) in their programs. This represents an important...more
On December 10, OCR issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) outlining its plan for major changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which governs the way that most individual protected health information (PHI) can be used in...more
On December 1, 2020, CMS released its FY2021 Final Rule (“Final Rule”) updating the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS Final Rule is part of an annual cycle of regulations released during the fourth quarter of...more
As mentioned in our earlier report, on November 20, 2020, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published two long-awaited final...more
As we previously reported, Congress passed and the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (Pub. L. 116-136) (“CARES Act”) on March 27, 2020. We recently provided guidance on how the CARES Act...more
4/9/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Emergency Response ,
FCC ,
Filing Requirements ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
Medicare ,
OCR ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Physicians ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Relief Measures ,
State and Local Government ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Waivers
On March 28, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) published a bulletin to health care providers (and others under OCR’s authority) about the need for civil rights protections for...more
In light of findings from the COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will suspend all routine facility inspections and surveys...more
3/25/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Eligibility ,
Enrollment ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicaid Expansion ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
State and Local Government
Last week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) instituted measures to expand the use of telemedicine in response to the COVID-19. A significant part of the federal government’s response to...more
Federal regulators announced another set of regulatory changes and waivers, particularly relating to telemedicine, in response to the growing pandemic crisis throughout the United States. ...more
This article aims to summarize several developments in health care regulation and policy as part of the federal and state response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With coronavirus infections continuing to spread both in the US and abroad, fears of a pandemic with serious disruptions to the economy and everyday life continue to grow. Concerns are compounded for...more
3/6/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OCR ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Telemedicine ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
New legislation passed in the 2019 session of the Texas Legislature, SB 1264, went into effect on January 1, 2020. The statute protects Texas residents from so-called surprise billing, where patients receive costly medical...more
1/24/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Billing Rates ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Insurance Reform ,
Medical Expenses ,
Medical Reimbursement ,
New Legislation ,
Out of Network Provider ,
State and Local Government ,
State Employees ,
Surprise Medical Bills
On June 6, 2019, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) issued final rules regarding the implementation of the Veterans Community Care Program. These rules respond to the VA’s broader mandate under the 2018 Maintaining...more
Three cases recently wrapped up in the Northern and Southern Districts of Texas reveal an increased focus on health care fraud committed against private commercial third-party payors, as well as the tools that the Department...more
4/18/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospitals ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Third Party Payments ,
Travel Act
This is the second in a series of alerts from Seyfarth’s Health Law practice highlighting significant changes in health care regulations and policy as providers and other industry participants enter 2018....more
On September 2, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced a settlement with Cancer Care Group, P.C., a thirteen-physician oncology practice in Indiana related to violations of the...more
9/17/2015
/ Compliance ,
Corrective Actions ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Hackers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
OCR ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
PHI ,
Privacy Laws ,
Settlement Agreements