Moving marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) from Schedule I to Schedule III will bring celebrated changes to the beleaguered state-sanctioned cannabis industries currently operating in 37 states, but will...more
5/30/2024
/ Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Marijuana ,
Motion To Reschedule ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Tax Deductions
The government’s continued dedication of resources to investigating and prosecuting fraud against COVID-19 pandemic relief programs appears to have borne fruit according to the results of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task...more
4/19/2024
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Healthcare ,
Investigations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
New Legislation ,
Qui Tam
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a General Compliance Program Guidance (GCPG) on November 6, 2023, marking the first update to OIG’s compliance program guidance...more
11/13/2023
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Federal Health Care Programs (FHCP) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Incentives ,
Information Blocking Rules ,
New Guidance ,
OIG ,
Request For Information ,
Risk Assessment
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced on April 24, 2023 that it will soon issue long overdue updates to its compliance program guidance documents (CPGs). First introduced in...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
1/18/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) ,
Medicare Part A ,
Medicare Part B ,
Medicare Part C ,
Medicare Part D ,
OIG ,
Overpayment ,
Proposed Rules ,
Reimbursements
While health care entities often want to provide free or discounted items or services to patients (e.g., free transportation, co-payment waivers, free supplies), these free or discounted items or services pose risk under both...more
Since the early days of the pandemic, Mintz’s COVID-19 Compliance & Enforcement Defense Task Force has closely monitored and advised clients on the evolving COVID-19 relief programs, including those created by the Coronavirus...more
6/23/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
FCC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Health Care Providers ,
Main Street Lending Programs ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (PPPFA) ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
Small Business Loans
On Monday, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Ajit Pai, circulated a plan to his fellow Commissioners detailing how the $200 million the agency will receive via the CARES Act should be deployed for a...more
4/1/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Emergency Response ,
FCC ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (ITSP) ,
Medicare ,
OCR ,
Public Health ,
Relief Measures ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
Waivers
As discussed in our article recently published by Law360, criminal health care enforcement in 2019 was in many ways a continuation of 2018, with opioid-related enforcement continuing to be the clear top priority for the...more
1/23/2020
/ Bribery ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Kickbacks ,
Medical Devices ,
Medical Necessity ,
Medicare Beneficiaries ,
OIG ,
Opioid ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telemedicine
As reported previously, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently published two proposed rules that seek to implement wholesale changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and...more
12/19/2019
/ ACOs ,
Advisory Opinions ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Beneficiary Inducement ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Home Health Care ,
OIG ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Safe Harbors ,
Stark Law ,
Telehealth ,
Value-Based Care
On August 20, 2019, the United States exercised its authority under the False Claims Act (FCA) to seek dismissal of a relator’s qui tam suit because of the defendant’s burdensome discovery demands, in Polansky v. Executive...more
8/24/2019
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discovery ,
Dismissals ,
EHR ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
The Granston Memo ,
Two-Midnight Rule