Healthcare Law Blog

Reimbursement Relief for Healthcare Providers Treating the Uninsured

Reimbursement relief is on the way for healthcare providers who have conducted COVID-19 testing or provided treatment for COVID-19 individuals who are uninsured. The COVID-19 Uninsured Program Portal allows for providers to submit claims for reimbursement beginning May 6, 2020 for COVID -19 services on or after February 4, 2020. These reimbursements will be made at Medicare rates. More >

FCC is awarding funds for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was passed into law in March 2020 set aside $200 million in funds for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. The program’s intent is to keep physicians and patients safe while continuing care remotely. The support provided through telehealth is intended for treatment of both coronavirus and other ongoing health conditions during the pandemic. More >

DOJ’s Nursing Home Initiative Targets Providers – Compliance Will Be Critical!

A new initiative announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 3, 2020, is aimed at investigating “grossly substandard care” in nursing homes. The National Nursing Home Initiative will initially be targeting the nation’s most problematic facilities and will use both civil and criminal enforcement actions where these facilities are putting the health and safety of residents in danger. The initiative serves as one focus in the DOJ’s larger efforts in protecting the elderly and is coordinated by the Elder Justice Initiative. More >

Kentucky Sets Detailed Timeline for Phased Reopening of Healthcare Providers

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) has released a four-stage plan for reopening Kentucky’s health care services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with the first phase beginning on April 27, 2020, and the fourth and final stage being implemented on May 27, 2020. The intention is to gradually loosen restrictions on services while providing requirements that must be met in order to mitigate against the COVID-19 pandemic.  More >

CMS Expands Accelerated and Advance Payment Program for COVID-19 Emergency

As part of the CARES Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded the Accelerated and Advance Payment Program to a larger group of Part A providers and Part B suppliers. The full fact sheet on the expansion is available from CMS here, but we’ve summarized the significant points below. More >

Kentucky Board of Nursing Issues Advisory on Nurse Practitioner Prescribing During State of Emergency, Pushes Telehealth

Getting Long-Term Lost with Compliance for Long Term Care? OIG Has A Roadmap

Long Term Care (“LTC”) facilities have been a renewed area of focus for regulators in recent years, due to changes in Medicare and the potential for harm to a vulnerable population at the hands of bad actors. In April of 2019, for instance, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) put out a Data Brief with the ominous headline, “Trends in Deficiencies at Nursing Homes Show That Improvements Are Needed To Ensure the Health and Safety of Residents.” Unfortunately, this renewed focus exponentially increases the need for a push to instill compliance as a key tenet of a facility’s culture. Luckily, in 2000 and again in 2008, the OIG released a very clear roadmap for compliance that’s still reliable today. We’ll hit some of the highlights. More >

The Hard Truth: Treating the Opioid Epidemic Webinar Recap

Click here to watch the video replay of the webinar.

In January of 2019, the National Safety Council released a study with an alarming result: Since 2017, the odds of dying by accidental opioid overdose have exceeded the odds of dying in a car accident. With the opioid crisis raging, the first line of defense may now be healthcare providers, especially rural ones, who treat patients on a daily basis. More >

Healthcare Entities: How is Your Cyber Security?

In an evolving world of cyber terrorism where individuals such as Edward Snowden grab headlines by stealing national secrets, it should come as no surprise that protected healthcare information (“PHI”) kept by providers has become a “target rich environment” for foreign governments and individual hackers alike. In addition to threats from outside entities, healthcare providers must also realize and appreciate that state and federal regulatory and statutory requirements govern the creation, maintenance and protection of PHI, including through but not limited to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act.  Failure to abide by these complex and stringent rules can lead to significant penalties.  More >

CMS Executes About-Face on Pre-Dispute Arbitration Ban

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule on June 5, 2017, that serves as an effective course reversal on pre-dispute arbitration agreements in a long-term care (“LTC”) setting. This caps off an effort by many in the healthcare and nursing home industry to stop the prior rule, which banned such agreements, from taking effect. More >