On October 1, 2021, Nevada will join a handful of states that are actively seeking to monitor the growth and impact of health care transactions in their states, and will also designate specific contracting practices viewed as anticompetitive as unfair trade practices. Nevada’s Senate Bill 329 (SB 329) and Assembly Bill 47 (AB 47) will significantly impact provider contracting and business operations for hospitals and physician group practices in the state.…

Since Spring 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has distributed more than $150 billion in Provider Relief Funds (PRF) to health care providers that can be used to reimburse their expenses attributable to COVID-19 or to make up for revenue losses incurred during the pandemic. Providers are required to submit reports on the first distributions of PRF funding by September 30, 2021. On September 10, 2021, HHS, through the Health Resources and…

In the latest installment of our “Let’s Talk Compliance” series, Foley & Lardner’s Alexis Bortniker and PYA’s Martie Ross answered numerous questions regarding Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting requirements. A recording of the event is available here. Unfortunately, there were more questions from attendees than we could cover in 45 minutes, so as a supplement to the July 16 event, we have compiled those questions to offer the following responses. What “official” resources are available…

New Jersey recently finalized regulations requiring all telemedicine or telehealth organizations providing telemedicine services to patients located in New Jersey to register with New Jersey’s Department of Health (Department) before October 15, 2021. While initially proposed in April 2020, on August 16, 2021, the Department quietly finalized its Registration Standards for Telemedicine and Telehealth Organizations regulations (Title 8, Chapter 53 of the New Jersey Administrative Code), finally implementing provisions of the 2017 New Jersey …

On August 13, 2021, the State of Illinois enacted a law, amending the Illinois Freedom To Work Act (the Law) to limit the enforceability of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements between employers and employees in Illinois. The restrictions apply to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2022. Among the restrictions contained in the Law are: A prohibition on an employer entering into a “covenant not to compete” (which is defined to include adverse financial…

In a much-awaited Seventh Circuit decision, the court joined four other circuits in endorsing the “objective reasonableness” defense under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). In a 2-1 panel decision, the court not only upheld the lower court’s summary judgment for the defendant, but did so on the basis of an objective—not subjective—assessment of the defendant’s state of mind. Moreover, in determining whether authoritative guidance from the government could negate that “reasonable” state of mind,…

On July 1, 2021, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland rescinded the Brand Memorandum and the Sessions Memorandum, which directed Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys to refrain from using agency guidance to bring enforcement cases such as False Claims Act cases (Garland Memorandum). These prior memoranda, their accompanying regulations, and the relevant Justice Manual provisions narrowed the utility for DOJ attorneys of agency manuals, memoranda, and other forms of agency sub-regulatory guidance. The…