The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released complementary rules this past Friday, November 20, 2020, to modernize and clarify the regulations that interpret the Physician Self-Referral Law (the Stark Law) and the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. As we wrote when the proposed rules were released last autumn (see client alerts here and here), the … Continue Reading
On October 28, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period (IFR) in an effort to ensure that participants in CMS programs have no-cost access to any forthcoming Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine. The IFR governs any vaccine that … Continue Reading
On September 15, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to state Medicaid directors on how to advance value-based care (VBC) across their health care systems, with an emphasis on Medicaid populations, and how to share pathways for adoption of such approaches. Within the 33-page letter, CMS highlights the merits of … Continue Reading
The October 3, 2019 Executive Order 13890 (“EO 13890”), entitled “Executive Order on Protecting and Improving Medicare for our Nation’s Seniors,” directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “propose regulatory and sub-regulatory changes to the Medicare program to encourage innovation for patients.” EO 13890 explicitly requests that the Secretary make coverage of breakthrough … Continue Reading
On August 27, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) filed an interim final rule with comment period (“IFC”), detailing new long-term care (“LTC”) facility COVID-19 testing requirements and strengthening enforcement of existing related facility reporting requirements. According to CMS, the IFC represents the agency’s latest effort in an ongoing initiative to control … Continue Reading
With only one day left before the final rule scaling back nondiscrimination regulations took effect, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) issued an order staying the repeal of certain parts of the former regulations. On June 19, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil … Continue Reading
On August 4, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) posted for inspection the Proposed 2021 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment Policies. The proposed rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Wednesday, August 17, 2020, and among its many proposals, would … Continue Reading
A final rule published by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) significantly scales back nondiscrimination regulations first released in 2016. The final rule, which was published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2020, implements Section 1557 of the … Continue Reading
On June 1, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled new measures designed to enhance enforcement and oversight of nursing homes and related state survey agencies. CMS announced the new policies concurrently with the release of federal data detailing the incidence of nursing home COVID-19 infections, which was also made available on … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a new voluntary Part D Senior Savings Model (the Model) intended to reduce Medicare beneficiary cost sharing for insulin. Under the Model, participating insulin manufacturers and participating sponsors of Medicare Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage Part D plans (MA-PDs) will make … Continue Reading
In a post on our Life Sciences Legal Update blog here, we discuss the first judicial opinion interpreting the Affordable Care Act’s “60-Day Overpayment Rule” in a False Claims Act case, which was recently issued by the Southern District of New York. In Kane v. Healthfirst, Inc., et al. the court ruled in favor of … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the long-awaited Final Rule to implement the “Sunshine” provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). The Sunshine provisions – intended to provide increased transparency regarding the scope and nature of financial and other relationships among manufacturers, physicians, and teaching hospitals – require that … Continue Reading
This post was written by Scot T. Hasselman, Julia Krebs-Markrich, Thomas W. Greeson and Paul W. Pitts. Providers and suppliers have until April 16, 2012 to comment on the proposed rule to implement provisions of Section 6402(a) of the Affordable Care Act that require “persons” receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds to report and return overpayments … Continue Reading
