Hooper, Kearney and Macklin on Cutting Edge Topics in the False Claims Act
As November came to an end, federal courts across the country continue to examine and issue preliminary rulings on challenges to various COVID vaccine mandates put in place by the Biden Administration. At the beginning of...more
On November 8, 2021, the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court order that denied an attempt to preliminarily block the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network’s (OPTN) policy changing the manner in which donor kidneys are...more
While the pandemic put many things on hold, it did not do the same for the False Claims Act (FCA). To find out what is happening in FCA activity we spoke with Patrick Hooper, Jordan Kearney and Alicia Macklin, partners at the...more
After a drawn-out drafting-and-review process, the hotly contested No Surprises Act (Act) has made its way into law after being tucked into the 5,500+ pages of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, signed into law on...more
On January 23, 2020, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia declared sections of the 2013 Omnibus Rule unlawful. The Court found that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) impermissibly...more
As forewarned, CMS's finalization of the Calendar Year (CY) 2020 Physician Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2020, brings significant changes to its authority to deny or revoke a Medicare enrollment for physicians and other...more
On October 31, 2019, the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an important memo from Kelly M. Cleary, CMS Chief Legal Officer, and Brenna E. Jenny, Deputy General...more
In a significant break from preceding court decisions, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia recently struck down CMS's "must bill" policy, which requires that Medicare providers bill Medicaid and...more
On October 9, 2019, President Trump issued an Executive Order aimed to curb agencies, such as CMS, from using informal guidance documents as de facto rules that have the binding effect of law. In a press conference...more
Paired with the recent decision in Azar v. Allina, the healthcare industry in particular can hope for a greater voice in the regulatory process in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s directives. With Allina’s requirement that...more
In a major win for providers that serve a disproportionate share of indigent patients, the Supreme Court today upheld the D.C. Circuit’s earlier decision invalidating CMS’s policy to treat beneficiaries enrolled in Part C...more
On January 15, 2019, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Azar v. Allina Health Services, a prominent case involving a challenge by hospitals over when Medicare’s instructions to its contractors impact a “substantive...more
On January 15, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a hotly-contested case involving a challenge by hospitals over when Medicare’s instructions to its contractors impact a “substantive legal standard” and thus...more
Is the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the government) required to engage in notice and comment rulemaking when it changes a requirement that has an important impact on hospitals' reimbursement? As we reported...more
On July 2, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its annual proposed rule outlining both payment and policy changes for home health agencies. In a press release announcing the proposed rule, CMS...more
On Friday, Judge Garnett W. Chisenhall, a duly-designated administrative law judge of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, issued a ruling invalidating emergency rules requiring all Florida nursing homes and...more