On June 14, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) issued an important decision clarifying whether and when an employer may lawfully exclude union organizers from its privately owned public spaces. Under then extant Board caselaw, where an employer had invited the public to enter or use space on its private property, the employer could not lawfully exclude union organizers from entering and using that same “public space” because that exclusion was considered to…

Healthcare Law Blog

Blockchain and Healthcare Innovation: A City, Academia, and Technology Firms Join Forces to find Blockchain Solutions to Address Public Health Challenges

By Samuel Gilkeson & John Tilton on June 13, 2019

As the excitement around blockchain technology continues to grow in the healthcare sector, there is an increasing realization that blockchain has the capability of addressing many of the data and information-related challenges that the healthcare world has been focused on for years – such as providing access to comprehensive interoperable electronic health records and ensuring data continuity for patients who receive treatment in multiple healthcare settings. As this realization has taken hold, healthcare stakeholders and…

Healthcare Law Blog

SCOTUS Rejects CMS DSH Policy, Calls CMS Guidance Practices Into Question

By Christine Clements & Erica Kraus on June 6, 2019

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court upheld a D.C. Circuit Court decision vacating a policy of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) that would have “dramatically – and retroactively – reduced payments to hospitals serving low-income patients.” Azar v. Allina Health Services, 587 U.S. __ at 1 (2019). The Supreme Court’s Allina opinion (“Op.” or the “Decision”) is critically important for hospitals that rely on Medicare disproportionate share (“DSH”) payments and has…

Healthcare Law Blog

Supreme Court Addresses False Claims Act Statute of Limitations

By Bryce Chadwick & David T. Fischer on June 5, 2019

On May 14, 2019, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt, No. 18-315, 2019 WL 2078086 (U.S. May 13, 2019). In its decision, the Supreme Court essentially added four years on the time available for private suits to be brought by whistleblowers/relators under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), regardless of whether the Government decides to intervene. As a result of this decision, entities that…

Healthcare Law Blog

Recent Activity in Medicare Audit Programs: CMS Announces Increase in Audit Contractor Oversight

By Kenneth Yood, Samuel Gilkeson & Melissa Gertler on May 29, 2019

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) healthcare audit programs – including the Unified Program Integrity Contractors (“UPICs”) audit program, the Recovery Audit Contractor (“RAC”) program, the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (“CERT”) program, etc. – have been the subject of regular complaints and calls-for-action by the Medicare/Medicaid provider community for many years.…

Healthcare Law Blog

CMS Issues Long-Awaited Draft Guidance for Hospital Co-Location with Other Hospitals or Healthcare Facilities

By Michael Paddock, Erica Kraus & Theresa Thompson on May 9, 2019

On May 3, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released long-awaited draft guidance (the “Guidance”), proposing to allow hospitals to co-locate with other hospitals or healthcare facilities in certain circumstances. In welcome news for the industry – particularly for hospitals that co-locate provider-based space with non-provider-based facilities – CMS has proposed that hospitals may co-locate with other hospitals or healthcare entities on the same campus or in the same building, either in…

Healthcare Law Blog

Update to Texas v. United States: DOJ Files a Brief in Support of Eliminating the ACA

By Jordan Grushkin, Matthew Goldman & Melissa Gertler on May 6, 2019

open-enrollment-healthcare-forms-and-medical-doctor-picture-id821551442

On May 1, 2019, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed an initial brief (the “Brief”) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) on behalf of the United States, in favor of upholding the lower court’s decision that found the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) unconstitutional. As we discussed previously in our December 2018 blog post, a federal district court judge in Texas struck down…

Healthcare Law Blog

The Military Health Care Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program: The Department of Defense Issues Proposed Regulations regarding TRICARE and Civil Monetary Penalties

By Erica Kraus, Theresa Thompson & Keeley A. McCarty on May 3, 2019

The U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) claims that fraud and abuse is inhibiting the ability of the Defense Health Agency (“DHA”), the agency responsible for administering TRICARE, to support and deliver “integrated, affordable, and high quality health service to all DOD beneficiaries” and to be “a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars.” Noting that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has limited resources to prosecute those who commit fraud and abuse against the TRICARE program, the DOD…

Healthcare Law Blog

Arkansas and Kentucky Halt Medicaid Work Requirements

By Christine Clements & Samuel Gilkeson on April 26, 2019

On April 10, 2019, the Department of Justice filed notices[1] appealing two District Court rulings that struck down Medicaid work requirements in both Kentucky[2] and Arkansas[3] to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The rulings, issued on March 27, 2019, by Judge James E. Boasberg of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, held that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) acted…

Healthcare Law Blog

Years in the Making: The Health Resources & Services Administration Launches a Website to Increase Pricing Transparency in the 340B Program

By Kenneth Yood & Melissa Gertler on April 24, 2019

If you overheard Medicaid providers breathe audible sighs of relief on April Fool’s Day, it may be because on April 1, 2019, the Health Resources & Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HRSA”) finally updated the Office of Pharmacy Affairs 340B Information System website (the “340B Website”) to allow 340B Drug Pricing Program (the “340B Program”) providers – including 340B Program-eligible hospitals and other eligible healthcare providers– to use the 340B…

Healthcare Law Blog

Shaping the World of Healthcare Law

Blog Authors

NLRB Limits Union Access Rights to “Public Spaces” of Employers

Blockchain and Healthcare Innovation: A City, Academia, and Technology Firms Join Forces to find Blockchain Solutions to Address Public Health Challenges

SCOTUS Rejects CMS DSH Policy, Calls CMS Guidance Practices Into Question

Supreme Court Addresses False Claims Act Statute of Limitations

Recent Activity in Medicare Audit Programs: CMS Announces Increase in Audit Contractor Oversight

CMS Issues Long-Awaited Draft Guidance for Hospital Co-Location with Other Hospitals or Healthcare Facilities

Update to Texas v. United States: DOJ Files a Brief in Support of Eliminating the ACA

The Military Health Care Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program: The Department of Defense Issues Proposed Regulations regarding TRICARE and Civil Monetary Penalties

Arkansas and Kentucky Halt Medicaid Work Requirements

Years in the Making: The Health Resources & Services Administration Launches a Website to Increase Pricing Transparency in the 340B Program

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