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ML Strategies Weekly Health Care Preview – September 10, 2018
September 10, 2018 | Blog
Congress continues to make progress towards funding the government despite having only seven business days remaining with both chambers in town prior to the September 30 deadline.
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Arkansas 1115 Waiver Update – Work Requirement Implementation and Lawsuit
September 6, 2018 | Blog
We have continually provided updates on the application and approvals of Medicaid 1115 waivers that include work requirements. One such approved waiver is the Arkansas Works Program. As we previously noted, Arkansas became the first state to implement work requirements for Medicaid eligibility.
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Mintz’s Antitrust Group Covers Third Circuit Reinstatement of $67 Million Antitrust “Refusal to Deal” Suit Against Blues
September 5, 2018 | Blog | By Samantha Kingsbury
Last week, Bruce Sokler and Farrah Short from Mintz’s Antitrust practice group published a detailed alert regarding the Third Circuit’s reinstatement of an antitrust suit brought by medical device manufacturer LifeWatch Services, Inc. (“LifeWatch”) against the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and five of its member insurance plan administrators: LifeWatch
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ML Strategies Health Care Preview – Week of September 4th
September 4, 2018 | Blog
Congress is back in session with several high-profile hearings and looming deadlines. The Senate will begin consideration of the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court and will begin its work with the House on conferencing a number of appropriations bills.
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New Jersey Regulates Out-Of-Network Billing
August 31, 2018 | Blog | By Bridgette Keller, Hope Foster
News alert for all New Jersey health care providers! A new law went into effect yesterday (August 30, 2018) that changes billing requirements for out-of-network services in New Jersey.
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House and Senate Opioid Packages Comparison
August 28, 2018 | Blog | By Emma Zimmerman
The opioid epidemic has driven significant legislation this session. To help our readers track the pending opioid legislation, ML Strategies has created a chart to analyze various provisions of House and Senate bills and their overlap.
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CMS Proposes to Overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program
August 23, 2018 | Blog
On August 9, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).
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Arkansas 1115 Medicaid Waiver: August 2018 Status
August 21, 2018 | Blog | By Emma Zimmerman
In January 2018, CMS issued new guidance allowing states to impose work requirements as a condition of Medicaid eligibility through the use of Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers. These waivers allow states to test new approaches in Medicaid that differ from federal rules.
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Amended FCA Complaint Cannot Cure A First-to-File Violation
August 17, 2018 | Blog | By Mackenzie Queenin
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a False Claims Act (FCA) relator could not evade the FCA’s first-to-file bar by filing an amended complaint after two earlier-filed FCA suits alleging similar conduct had been dismissed.
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CMS Seeks to Lower Costs and Increase Competition with Step Therapy for Medicare Part B Drugs
August 15, 2018 | Blog
As a continuation of the recent drug pricing developments tied the Trump Administration’s American Patients First Blueprint, beginning January 1, 2019, Medicare Advantage plans will be able to apply step therapy for physician-administered and other Part B drugs in an effort that CMS hopes will lower drug costs and improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries.
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Massachusetts Employers Take Note: Non-Compete Changes Are Coming
August 15, 2018 | Blog
Employers with workers in Massachusetts will have a lot to do between now and October 1, 2018, when reforms to Massachusetts non-compete laws go into effect.
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Mintz’s Health Care Enforcement Defense Group Publishes New Qui Tam Update
August 13, 2018 | Blog | By Samantha Kingsbury
Last week, Mintz’s Health Care Enforcement Defense Group published a new Qui Tam Update, which analyzes 46 health care-related False Claims Act qui tam cases unsealed in February and March 2018 and the trends they reflect:
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OCR Warns Providers About Securely Disposing Electronic Devices
August 10, 2018 | Blog
The July 2018 cyber security newsletter issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reminds health care providers and their business associates of the importance of properly disposing and destroying electronic devices and/or media that are no longer needed or that will be repurposed.
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New Jersey’s Pending 1332 Reinsurance Waiver
August 10, 2018 | Blog | By Emma Zimmerman
At the end of July, CMS approved two Section 1332 State Innovation Waivers submitted by Wisconsin and Maine for the purpose of establishing state reinsurance programs. There has been a flurry of 1332 waiver activity recently as states have sought to stabilize their individual insurance markets through reinsurance programs.
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The OIG Identifies “Significant Vulnerabilities” in the Medicare Hospice Program: What This Might Mean for Hospice Providers?
August 9, 2018 | Blog | By Lauren Moldawer
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released a portfolio report identifying multiple vulnerabilities in the Medicare Hospice Program (the “Hospice Portfolio Report”), including concerns around billing, federal oversight, and quality of care. The OIG made 16 recommendations to CMS to strengthen the hospice program; CMS only concurred with 6 of the recommendations.
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CMS, In a Reversal, Announces Plans to Continue Funding Risk Adjustment Payments
August 9, 2018 | Blog | By Xavier Hardy
On Wednesday, August 8, CMS filed a proposed rule clearing the way for the federal government to continue making payments under the ACA’s risk adjustment program for the benefit year 2018.
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Recent 1332 Waiver and Reinsurance Activity
August 2, 2018 | Blog | By Emma Zimmerman
States are increasingly looking for ways to improve stability in their individual insurance marketplaces. One way is through reinsurance programs – systems in which multiple insurance companies share risk by purchasing insurance policies from another party to limit the total loss the original insurer would experience in case of unusually high claims.
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These Statistics Keep Health Care Execs Up At Night
July 31, 2018 | Blog
The first statistic comes from a recently published study by the Ponemon Institute, with sponsorship from IBM Security, entitled “2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study: Global Overview.”
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Potential Changes to PAMA Reporting in Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule
July 30, 2018 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch
Clinical laboratories and hospitals should note the potential changes to the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (“PAMA”) reporting requirements tucked into the 1,400 page Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule (the “Proposed Rule”) released by CMS earlier this month.
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ML Strategies Weekly Health Care Preview – July 30, 2018
July 30, 2018 | Blog
This week, the Senate is in session while the House is out on its August recess. The Senate could move the ball on opioids, but it is more likely that it focuses on nominations.
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Viewpoint Editors
Karen S. Lovitch
Chair, Health Law Practice & Co-Chair, Health Care Enforcement Defense Practice
Joanne S. Hawana
Member
Rachel E. Yount
Of Counsel
Pat G. Ouellette
Associate
Stephnie A. John
Associate
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