Across the country, companies have been grappling with website accessibility challenges filed by serial plaintiffs alleging the company’s website is not fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. The complaints...more
On July 1, 2021, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland rescinded the Brand Memorandum and the Sessions Memorandum, which directed Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys to refrain from using agency guidance to bring...more
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) is expected to prompt unprecedented levels of regulatory enforcement activity that is focused on the use of telemedicine. In fact, fraudulent and abusive telehealth practices was an...more
7/16/2021
/ Audits ,
CARES Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FQHC ,
Fraud ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
OCR ,
OIG ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Relief Measures ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Telehealth
Three partners in Foley’s health care industry team—Monica Chmielewski, Jana Kolarik, and Lori Rubin—attended the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) Conference and Business Exposition from June 6-8, 2021 in Nashville,...more
On Monday February 22, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari in CareAlternatives v. United States (CareAlternatives), a case on appeal from the Third Circuit that could have assessed the issue of...more
Businesses that applied for a Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan have a chance to change their minds if they return the money by May 14, 2020.
With the onslaught of COVID-19...more
Businesses that applied for a Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan have a chance to change their minds if they return the money by May 7, 2020.
With the onslaught of COVID-19...more
With the onslaught of COVID-19 business closures, the government invited businesses around the country to apply for CARES Act relief to help survive the closures. Many have chosen to apply for assistance through the Small...more
Following the Eleventh Circuit’s and Third Circuit’s recent rulings in United States v. AseraCare and United States v. Care Alternatives, respectively, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has now also addressed the question of...more
The COVID-19 virus crush is upon us at this moment. Like in 2008 with TARP, the government has invited businesses around the country to apply for CARES Act relief to help survive this pandemic...more
4/9/2020
/ Affiliated-Business Arrangements ,
Board of Directors ,
Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Health Insurance ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Shareholders ,
Small Business ,
Stocks ,
Tax Relief
In times of crisis, there are heroes, villains, victims, and everyone in between. Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, many valiant efforts are under immense time pressure—to care for the ill, to protect the vulnerable, to find and...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last week that whistleblower relators need not show “objective falsity” to prove their claims, and that a dispute among physician experts about a clinical...more
3/12/2020
/ False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospice ,
Insurance Fraud ,
Life Sciences ,
Medicare ,
Objective Falsity ,
Physicians ,
Professional Liability ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Scienter ,
Triable Issue of Fact ,
Whistleblowers
Federal enforcers typically announce (formally as well as informally) work plans or focus areas for the upcoming year that can provide some guidance as to where providers might anticipate enforcement action and, where they...more
All hospice providers routinely should assess risk exposure under the False Claims Act — now with the benefit of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s long-awaited decision in United States v. AseraCare Inc. ...more
2/4/2020
/ Appeals ,
Evidence ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospice ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Medical Experts ,
Medical Records ,
Medicare ,
Objective Falsity ,
Physicians ,
Summary Judgment ,
Terminal Illness Treatments ,
Trial Court Orders ,
Vacated
On November 5, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced the establishment of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF). The PCSF aims to deter, detect, investigate, and prosecute antitrust crimes and...more
11/8/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
Collusion ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
DCIS ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DOJ Strike Force ,
FBI ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Inspector General ,
Price-Fixing ,
Public Procurement Policies ,
State Attorneys ,
USPS
Is your private sector company required by law to make its website accessible to individuals with disabilities? The answer depends on which judge you ask in which jurisdiction; different courts apply different tests. The...more
10/9/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Dominos ,
Due Process ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Public Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Title III ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Although a whistleblowing employee typically cannot release fraud claims against her employer brought on behalf of the United States under the False Claims Act (FCA), courts have demonstrated a willingness to enforce properly...more
10/9/2019
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Health Care Providers ,
Qui Tam ,
Release of Claims ,
Retaliation ,
Severance Agreements ,
Waiver of Liability ,
Waivers ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
In a landmark decision on June 3, 2019, the Supreme Court held that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was required to engage in notice and comment rulemaking before publishing methodology (Medicare Fractions)...more
6/10/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Azar v Allina Health Services ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Medicare Part A ,
Medicare Part C ,
Notice and Comment ,
Patents ,
Pay Reductions ,
Provider Payments ,
Reaffirmation ,
Retroactive Application ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantive Rule ,
Vacated
Health care providers, government contractors, and others who receive money from the federal government are at greater risk of suit under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq., following the Supreme Court’s...more
5/31/2019
/ Appeals ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
Cochise Consultancy Inc v United States ex rel Hunt ,
Dismissals ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Intervenors ,
Limitation Periods ,
Qui Tam ,
Reaffirmation ,
Relators ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations
In a memo leaked last year (the Granston Memo), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) instructed its prosecutors to more seriously consider dismissing meritless whistleblower False Claims Act (FCA) cases when it is in the...more
On May 7, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released guidance for civil prosecutors in determining how to assess cooperation in False Claims Act (FCA) cases. See DOJ’s press release and its revised manual. In particular,...more
If one appellant has its way, the False Claims Act (FCA) would be gutted by way of its qui tam provisions struck down as unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. That is the position taken by Intermountain Health...more
5/15/2019
/ Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Hospitals ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Reversal
On May 9, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a policy related to resolutions of criminal and civil corporate enforcement. The new “Policy on Coordination of Corporate Resolution Penalties” was issued by...more
In a January 10, 2018 memo that leaked last week (the “Granston Memo”), the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) directs its prosecutors to more seriously consider dismissing meritless False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases brought by...more
When the False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation provision was amended in 2009, the amendment was not explicit as to whether plaintiffs could only recover for retaliation claims against companies, or whether plaintiffs also could...more
9/3/2015
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Ambiguous ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Corporate Entities ,
Employment Contract ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
FERA ,
Personal Liability ,
Retaliation ,
Supervisors ,
Termination ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination