RECENT HEALTH LAW NEWS

Rivkin Radler’s Geoffrey R. Kaiser authored an article for Law360 entitled “False Claims Act, Medical Necessity and Government Regulation of Medicine.” The full article can be found here.

On April 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced numerous regulatory waivers and rule changes to, among other things, expand Medicare beneficiaries’ access to coronavirus testing and telehealth services. CMS also made changes to address financial concerns that had been raised by many accountable care organizations (ACOs).

The changes included adding behavioral

On April 24, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published responses to certain frequently asked questions and further explained its application of administrative enforcement authorities to arrangements directly connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

OIG stated that it is accepting inquiries regarding application of its administrative

On April 27, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of commercial health insurers that were seeking $12 billion under the Affordable Care Act’s risk corridor program, acknowledging that the ACA “obligated the government to pay the full amount of risk corridor payments.”

The ACA established the risk corridor program to mitigate the risks assumed

On April 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will no longer accept new applications from physician practices, medical equipment suppliers, and other providers for its Advance Payment Program. CMS will continue to accept applications from hospitals for loans under its Accelerated Payment Program but will be reevaluating the amounts

In 1969, noted economist Milton Friedman coined the term “helicopter money” to describe the monetary policy of injecting liquidity into the market, much like dropping money to people from helicopters, as an alternative to quantitative easing. The CARES Act, popularly referred to as the Provider Relief Fund is a “helicopter” that dropped a lot of

The New York State Department of Health has issued a General Information System (GIS) message clarifying the impact of COVID-19 related payments on Medicaid eligibility determinations.

The GIS confirms that pursuant to sections 2104 and 2201 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 certain pandemic-related payments will not impact Medicaid

Although Executive Order 202.10 gave health care providers some immunity for COVID-19 related care, this immunity does not extend to actions by the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs (“Justice Center”). A provider or facility could be prosecuted for allegations of abuse or neglect by the Justice Center for actions taken during this

After a teaser on Twitter and a verbal preview during a press conference, President Trump has signed an executive order preventing certain foreign nationals from receiving an immigrant visa for the next 60 days. The purpose of the order is protecting United States workers from competition from foreign workers. In reality, however, the order will

Two recent decisions of the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) illustrate that age and disability status cannot be used as blanket criteria for denying access to health care services, even during a pandemic. This should serve as a warning to healthcare providers about the risks in making triage decisions