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CMS Expands Ownership Disclosure Requirements for Skilled Nursing Facilities

On November 17, 2023, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a final rule requiring skilled nursing facilities to publicly disclose additional ownership and management information.   The new rule is specifically intended to require disclosure of private equity and real estate investment trust ownership, as well as those with management and financial control.   The […]

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$8.5 Million False Claims Act Settlement to Resolve Simultaneous Surgeries Action

It has been a while since we posted on this blog.   But an important False Claims Act case was settled this week.   This is a case that health care providers should be aware of, especially any provider that could be accused of over-scheduling procedures. The case was filed by a whistleblower against the University of […]

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Medicare Overpayment Rule: Part 2 – Proactive and Reactive Compliance

This blog is the second post in a series discussing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Final Rule regarding the obligation to report and return Medicare overpayments. The first post discussed the basic requirement to report and return Medicare overpayments and two highlights of the rule—when an overpayment is “identified” and the 6-year lookback period. The first post can be viewed here. In this post, we discuss the impact of the rule on providers’ compliance initiatives (or lack thereof).

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OIG Issues New Advisory Opinion that Sheds Additional Light on How the Government Views Beneficiary Inducements

The federal Civil Monetary Penalties statute, 42 U.S.C. 1320a–7a, allows the government to impose Civil Money Penalties “(“CMPs”) when it determines that a health care provider has offered remuneration to a federal health care program beneficiary to influence the beneficiary to select the provider for services paid for by Medicare or Medicaid. Similarly, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. 1320a–7b(b), prohibits offering remuneration in exchange for referrals of federal health care program business.

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The 2014 OIG Work Plan as a Guide to Fraud and Abuse Focus Areas

After a delay of several months, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released its Fiscal Year 2014 Work plan on January 31, 2014. After combing through Work Plan, we noticed new areas of OIG focus, which it believes may be ripe for fraud, waste, and abuse. The Delaware healthcare community—from physician practices to institutional providers—can stand to gain a great deal of insight by understanding the OIG’s focus and trends for the new year. Most importantly, the Work Plan can help providers identify potential areas of compliance risk before an issue arises. We have identified a few key OIG initiatives below.

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Proposed Regulations to Require Accreditation of Medical, Dental and Podiatry Practices

On April 1st, the Department of Health and Social Services (“DHSS”), through the Office of Health Facilities Licensing and Certification, published proposed regulations governing accreditation standards and safety and sanitation standards that, if implemented, would apply to all medical offices, dentist offices and podiatry offices where certain invasive procedures are performed. Physicians, dentists, and podiatrists who perform even minor medical procedures in their offices while utilizing “any level of anesthesia” should carefully review the regulations, as the Delaware health care community will undoubtedly be surprised by the proposed new requirements that may soon apply to these practices.

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Delaware General Assembly Considers Expanding Immunity Connected to Mental Health Assessments

Pending in the Delaware Senate is a bill already passed unanimously in Delaware’s House of Representatives clarifying the law on immunity with regard to the process to detain or not detain a person for an involuntary mental health evaluation. House Bill #9 provides that immunity to civil damages and criminal penalties extends to peace officers, medical doctors, credentialed mental health screeners, and the facility in which the medical doctor or credentialed mental health screener practices, only for harm resulting from the mental health assessment, resulting clinical decision, and involuntary hold necessary until the person is presented to a designated psychiatric treatment facility, as required by the statute, and only if the peace officer, medical doctor, etc., did not intentionally inflict harm or engage in willful or wanton misconduct in connection with those activities.

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American Hospital Association Strikes Back at the RACs

Many health care providers are familiar with the costly exercise of fighting a Recovery Audit Contractor’s (“RAC”) determination of an overpayment through the administrative appeal process. But where providers take on the expense, the statistics on appeal are largely favorable. For fiscal year 2011, 43.4% of RAC determinations were reversed in the providers’ favor. The problem is that of the 903,372 claims identified as overpayments by RACs, only 56,620 claims were appealed at any level. Of those 56,620 claims, the 24,458 claims overturned during the appeal process translate to $37.9 million, or $1,550 per case.

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Delaware Bar Association Health Law Section Seminar

Please plan to attend a very special CLE/CME Seminar, “Health Law 101: What Every Lawyer and Healthcare Provider Should Know,” on Friday, November 30th, 2012, at the Medical Society of Delaware’s Conference Center in Newark. During this all-day seminar leading Delaware health law practitioners will cover a range of health law topics, from recent HIPAA-related developments and federal fraud and abuse laws to state law topics such as prescription drug monitoring and medical malpractice litigation.

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OIG RELEASES 2013 WORK PLAN

Yesterday the OIG issued its Work Plan describing the activities the OIG plans to initiate or continue with respect to HHS programs and operations in fiscal year 2013. The Plan identifies areas of government focus for each type of healthcare provider, as well as the OIG’s planned activities related to its oversight of Medicare Part A and B contractors, Medicare Part C and D programs, state Medicaid plans, and public health and human services agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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