All too often, services provided by hospices are denied by Medicare due to incomplete or inaccurate documentation practices that can easily be prevented. A September report by the HHS Office of Inspector General analyzed some of the most common documentation inadequacies in hospice services provided to beneficiaries at nursing facilities, and the statistics are surprising. […]
Generally, Durable Medical Equipment (“DME”) suppliers are statutorily prohibited from telemarketing Medicare beneficiaries regarding furnishing a covered item. There are three exceptions to this rule: (a) the beneficiary has given written consent to be contacted by the supplier; (b) the contact is regarding a covered item that the supplier has previously furnished to the beneficiary; […]
The federal estate tax has been repealed for 2010 only and will be re-imposed in 2011. Congressional efforts to cancel the repeal failed late last year. Now that Congress is back in session, it is likely Congress will again try to cancel the repeal retroactive to January 1, 2010. Even if the repeal is canceled […]
The January 2010 issue of Link, the online journal of the AHRA, is now available. This issue includes a new column called Regulatory Review, the first installment of which is called “Healthcare Marketing–Navigating the Regulatory Landscape.” The column, to be a regular feature in Link, is authored by The Health Law Partners’ Adrienne Dresevic and […]
A health care law Call for Articles has been announced by the West Virginia Law Review. The announcement is set forth below: Call for Articles The West Virginia Law Review announces a call for articles and invites scholars, practitioners, and researchers to submit contributions for its upcoming issue focusing on health care. This issue will […]
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius presented the first US National Health Security Strategy (“NHSS”) in December 2009. The NHSS “is intended to galvanize efforts to minimize the health consequences associated with significant health incidents.” These incidents involve the “large-scale incidents” including terrorist attacks, hurricanes, SARS, H1N1, etc.. The NHSS presents a […]
On December 28, 2009, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), joined by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the Florida ACC Chapter, the Association of Black Cardiologist, and the Cardiology Advocacy Alliance, filed a complaint, as well as motions for a preliminary injunction and expedited discovery, against Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Kathleen […]
Shortly before the holidays, Boston Scientific agreed to pay $22 million to resolve allegations that its subsidiary, Guidant, paid kickbacks to physicians to induce them to use Guidant pacemakers and defibrillators, in addition to a previous agreement to pay a $296 million fine resulting from a criminal investigation relating to defective defibrillators. On December 23, […]
Effective January 1, 2010, the 2010 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) amends the prior hospital outpatient supervision requirements. Reaffirming that Medicare will only cover outpatient therapeutic services that are furnished in the hospital (“in the hospital” defined as the areas included in the main buildings of the hospital that are under financial or administrative control […]
On December 30, 2009, CMS announced a proposed rule to implement provisions of the Recovery Act that provide incentive payments for the meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The proposed rule outlines provisions governing the EHR incentive programs, including defining the central concept of “meaningful use” of EHR technology. The text of the rule can […]
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