Health Care

As my colleague Brian Dunphy previously reported, CMS temporarily closed the Open Payments system earlier this month. Open Payments is the online system through which pharmaceutical and device manufacturers covered by the Sunshine Act report payments and transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals.

Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS) and Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation, together a national owner and operator of acute care hospitals, and 119 of their hospitals, agreed to pay $98 million to settle seven False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits filed by qui tam relators around the country. 

This week a federal district court in Ohio ruled in favor of Mobilex USA (Mobilex), the country's largest mobile medical imaging company, on a motion for summary judgment in a False Claims Act (FCA) suit filed by a former employee, Kevin P. McDonough. 

The Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently posted an Advisory Opinion approving a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s direct-to-patient product sales program.

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update. This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments.

Open Payments is the website through which pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers (“Manufacturers”) report payments and transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals, as required by the Sunshine Act.

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update.  This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments.

In recent healthcare mergers and acquisitions, we have seen the parties increasingly focus on the survival length of the representations and warranties in the purchase agreements. 

On July 22nd, 2014, two federal appellate courts issued conflicting decisions, within hours of each other, regarding the IRS final rule published on May 23, 2012 (the “IRS Rule”), intended to implement the exchange-related tax credit provisions of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or the “Act”). 

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update. This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments.

The Fiscal Year 2015 budget for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which was signed into law earlier in the week, included a broad prohibition on clinical laboratory self-referrals.

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update.  This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments.

Many states prohibit or limit the corporate practice of medicine (CPOM), either through statute or common law. These states generally bar a business corporation from practicing medicine or employing a physician to provide professional medical services. 

Drug and device manufacturers breathing a sigh of relief after completing their 2013 data submissions under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (the “Sunshine Act’) must now contend with four proposed changes to the Sunshine Act regulations. 

Last month, a woman sued a health plan, claiming that she was intentionally misled about which physicians were participating providers in the company’s online health insurance exchange established under the Affordable Care Act.

On June 12th, Connecticut governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law "An Act Concerning Pharmacy Rewards Programs And Protected Health Information". The law went into effect July 1st, and applies to pharmacy retailers in the state of Connecticut.

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update. This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments.

Yesterday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the much anticipated Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case, holding that closely-held corporations are protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (“RFRA”), and therefore cannot be required to pay for employee health plans that cover contraceptives if the corporation’s owners have religious objections.

The most recent Office for Civil Rights (OCR) HIPAA enforcement action serves as an important reminder to health care providers of the security risks associated with a mishandled medical records custody transfer and the risks of leaving paper records in the driveway.

ML Strategies has posted its weekly Health Care Update.  This publication provides timely information on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional initiatives affecting the health care industry, and federal and state health regulatory developments.