NEWS AND PUBLICATIONS

Recently, HHS reiterated that severe consequences can be imposed for HIPAA violations, regardless of whether a business is still operational. If HIPAA violations were committed, a business can be charged long after its doors close. Moreover, providers working with associates who shut down operations or went bankrupt are equally liable for HIPAA vio...

CMS has released a list of updated final adverse actions that need to be reported to CMS in a timely fashion. The list includes, but is not limited to, certain convictions, exclusions, and revocations, regardless of whether records are expunged.  Additionally, CMS revoked certain requirements of Medicare enrollment in an effort to reduce provi...

2006 was a monumental year for New York physical therapists – New York State passed a law permitting physical therapists to directly treat patients without a referral from a physician, triggering an explosion of private physical therapy practices. Over a decade later, private practice is still thriving in the industry.  As patient volume ...

OIG calls for "further scrutiny" of pharmacies and prescribers in connection with compounded drugs billed to Medicare Part D.   Pharmacies must be prepared to aggressively defend against this latest attack on the independent retail pharmacy industry. An explosive new report calls for "further scrutiny" of hundreds of pharmacies and prescr...

It is of utmost importance that Medicaid providers take prompt measures when under audit to avoid such consequences. Recently, the New York Court of Appeals upheld a recoupment of funds by the NYS Office of the Medicaid Inspector General ("OMIG") against a provider, rejecting the provider's claim that it was not sufficiently notified of the recoupm...

A doctor's certification or medical judgment regarding a certain treatment can be considered "false" if the treatment is not considered "reasonable and necessary" under the government's definition, even if the terms are not defined for the specific medical treatment. In a recent decision, United States ex rel. Polukoff v. St. Mark's Hospital ,...

In a sweeping crackdown that vastly exceeded investigations of years' past, the U.S. Department of Justice and Medicare Fraud Strike Force charged 601 individuals with over $2 billion in healthcare fraud. In Brooklyn and Long Island alone, numerous healthcare providers were charged with over a combined $163 million in healthcare fraud. The Medicare...

New Jersey providers should be alert to the recently signed into law Out-of-Network Consumer Protection, Transparency, Cost Containment, and Accountability Act.The Act pertains to, and enhances, consumer protections related to out-of-network healthcare charges.Health care facilities and professionals must ensure their compliance with these new requ...

The recently passed New York State budget bill including sweeping new protections for independent pharmacies facing PBM audits.  The bill, which amends the Public Health Law, requires PBMs, when conducting audits, to accept purchase invoices from a broader range of wholesalers and distributors.  This provision is notable as PBMs...

The former NYC Earned Sick Time Act, popularly known as the Paid Leave Law, is now the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act.  Previously, the Act obligated employers to provide a certain amount of sick leave for their employees. The new amendments to the Act, which are presently going into effect, allow employees to use paid leave not only for s...

Recently, New York State implemented a two-year moratorium on the processing and approval of applications for licensure of Licensed Home Care Service Agencies ("LHCSAs").This moratorium suspends the Department of Health's processing of LHCSA applications, subject to certain exceptions. Presently, the exceptions include applications for ALP-Related ...

Healthcare providers are increasingly feeling the cost of employing excluded individuals.Indeed, over the past year, the number of enforcement actions taken against physician's offices, pharmacies and other entities employing excluded individuals have risen sharply. "Excluded individuals" are parties excluded from Federally-funded healthcare progra...

Q.  When does a purely state criminal law-based matter transform into a federal felony prosecution? A.  When the Federal Travel Act (the "Travel Act") is implicated.Under the Act, a party who travels in interstate commerce or uses the mail or any facility in interstate commerce, with intent to promote or carry on "unlawful activities...

A recent health care fraud guilty plea by a physician has caught the attention of prescribing physicians and the broader industry surrounding compounded medications.Under the plea agreement in New Jersey District Court, the physician admitted to prescribing approximately $25 million worth of compounded medications that were either medically unneces...

Compounding pharmacies, one of the fastest growing sectors in retail pharmacy, may soon be able to expand the market for their products in exchange for agreeing to be placed directly under federal oversight, according to U.S. Food & Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. Currently, a sterile compounding pharmacy may&nbs...

Membership programs are a common tool used by retail pharmacies to grow their business. Under this type of program, a pharmacy will give member patients certain benefits, usually taking the form of rebates, discounts, or coupons on in-store items, as a way of developing customer loyalty. As these member patients often fill prescriptions at the same...

In what is becoming an annual tradition, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, comprised of members from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services (more about which can be read here ), announced the latest "unprecedented" healthcare fraud takedown. The nationwide bust netted more than 412 individuals suspected of a c...

In a step viewed optimistically by healthcare businesses, the United States Department of Labor ("DOL") has withdrawn two Obama-era guidance letters used to interpret the overtime wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The first guidance letter concerned independent contractors, and set forth the DOL's now-former position that most worker...

It appears that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS"), in its newly-released Final Guidance on Medicare Part D DIR Reporting Requirements for 2016, has begun addressing the lack of transparency surrounding Part D plan sponsors' collection of Direct and Indirect Remuneration ("DIR") fees from independent pharmacies. DIR "clawback"...

Contractors Responsible for Collecting Debts Alleged against Medicare Providers   A recent New York Times article, available here , detailed abuses committed by debt collection agencies contracted by the United States Department of Treasury and its sub-agency, the I.R.S. These abuses were also the subject of a recent letter from multiple Unite...