Health Care Counsel Blog

The California Board of Registered Nursing released proposed regulations setting forth requirements for the new categories of nurse practitioners created in 2020 by Assembly Bill 890, pushing nurse practitioners closer to an independent scope of practice.

In response to multiple requests from California hospital industry members, the California Court of Appeal ordered publication of its decision in Bonni v. St. Joseph Health System et al. This important decision is a victory for peer reviewers because it establishes significant protections.

A pair of reports recently issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) highlight the important role telehealth services have played in ensuring access to medical services and care for Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On August 19, 2022, the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, as well as the Office of Personnel Management, released a highly-anticipated final rule clarifying the procedures and considerations for resolving disputes related to surprise medical bills.

The recently unveiled California Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework (the Framework) creates a new regulatory and governance structure to promote the exchange of health information between health care providers in California.

In an effort to reorganize, the New York Department of Health (NYDOH) has formed a new Office of Aging & Long Term Care (OALTC), which would oversee long term care and senior living facilities in New York.

After many years of policy debate and attempts at proposed legislation, some of the most meaningful changes to the ways in which Medicare pays for prescription drugs – and the obligations of manufacturers selling drugs to Medicare beneficiaries - have finally come to pass.

In a newly filed lawsuit against the State of Idaho, the federal government argues that Idaho’s “near-total ban on abortion,” scheduled to take effect on August 25, 2022, overreaches by prohibiting abortion even where federal law may require physicians to perform an emergency abortion.

A series of new developments combine to make the broad topic of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, disclosure, and regulation more relevant to the not-for-profit healthcare sector (Sector).

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its annual proposed rule related to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems for 2023 (the HOPPS Proposed Rule) on July 26, 2022.

On July 20, 2022, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert cautioning physicians and other health care practitioners to use “heightened scrutiny” when entering into telemedicine arrangements that have “suspect characteristics” of a fraud scheme.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently imposed a $50,000 civil monetary penalty on a dental practice that disclosed patient-identifying information in response to a negative online review. The case is a reminder that healthcare providers risk liability for a HIPAA privacy violation.

According to guidance published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 11, 2022, EMTALA, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, requires hospitals to provide abortion services when necessary to stabilize a pregnant patient’s emergency medical condition.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) calendar year 2023 rule proposing changes to payment policies under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and Medicare Part B (the Proposed Rule) will officially be published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2022.

In Khoiny v. Dignity Health, the California Court of Appeal held that hospital residency programs are primarily employment programs and medical residents are primarily employees. Therefore, courts should not give special deference to residency programs’ termination decisions.

On July 14, ArentFox Schiff hosted the HGPII Annual Best Practices Forum, one of the group purchasing sector’s premier training and leadership development conferences.

On June 21, 2022, the Supreme Court concluded, in Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc., No. 20-1641, 2022 WL 2203328 (U.S. June 21, 2022), that the terms of a benefit plan limiting reimbursement for dialysis treatment did not violate the MSP Act.

CMS recently imposed Civil Monetary Penalties against two Georgia hospitals for failing to comply with the 2021 Price Transparency Rule, which requires hospitals to publish the standard costs of their items or services on a public website. 

The concept of “administrative deference” is a key component to the modern regulatory state. An important aspect of administrative deference is the “Chevron doctrine,” i.e. the concept that the courts should defer to relevant agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes.

The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) declaration that COVID-19 remains a public health emergency (PHE) will continue through July 15, 2022, and is expected to be renewed again through October 13, 2022.

The Food and Drug practice at ArentFox Schiff has received numerous inquiries from clients about long COVID, so we decided to ask our in-house scientist, Robert Edwards, Ph.D., Director of Regulatory Science, to prepare an Alert addressing many of the inquiries we have received.

The metaverse is widely regarded as the next frontier in digital commerce, with businesses across all industries spending millions of dollars to acquire a digital presence for positioning as market leaders.

Physician-owned companies that generate revenue from the sale of medical devices ordered by their physician owners have in recent years been the target of federal fraud and abuse enforcement actions.

The metaverse is widely regarded as the next frontier in digital commerce, with businesses across industries spending millions of dollars to position themselves as market leaders. While it offers clear opportunities for businesses, the metaverse also presents unique legal challenges.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights is requesting comments about HIPAA covered entities’ and business associates’ implementation of “recognized security practices” and payments to “harmed individuals” from funds the agency collects from its enforcement actions. Stakeholders have until June 6, 2022.