Perspectives on Health Care

Pharmaceutical manufacturers could face a new line of attack related to Hatch-Waxman reverse payment settlement agreements (so-called, “pay-for-delay” settlements).

The Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions recently started an investigation into whether agency “guidance” is being used as a means to impose obligations on the public while circumventing the formal rule making process. 

Health care lawyers are familiar with the term “underground rulemaking,” which refers to efforts by federal agencies to impose obligations on providers and suppliers informally, without using the processes required by law. That issue has recently attracted the attention of the US Senate. 

Linda A. Baumann was quoted extensively by Bloomberg BNA’s Health Care Fraud Report in a story following a speech by the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Leslie Caldwell, on new developments in DOJ’s handling and resolution of certain investigations.

Arent Fox LLP is proud to announce that, for the thirteenth year in a row, Health Care partner Linda A. Baumann served as editor-in-chief of a comprehensive desk reference focused on fraud and abuse for lawyers in the health care industry.

Arent Fox LLP is proud to announce the publication of a comprehensive and definitive book for health care industry leaders focused on risk management and litigation.

An Arent Fox team led by noted commercial litigator Hunter T. Carter prevailed at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Health Care Compliance Association jointly released an educational resource for governing boards.

Last week, Health Care partner Lowell C. Brown published an article in Bloomberg BNA’s Health Law Report that examines what hospital and medical staff leaders should do when a staff member is hospitalized with signs of impairment.

Peter R. Zeidenberg and Health Care partner David S. Greenberg published an article in Bloomberg BNA’s Health Care Fraud Report that examines an important decision after the Department of Justice (DOJ) successfully prosecuted Medicare fraud at Sacred Heart Hospital in Chicago.

On March 31, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a 5-4 decision in the case of Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc., 575 U.S. __ (2015), holding that health care providers do not have the right to sue a state Medicaid program under Section 30(A) of the federal Medicaid Act (Se

This change in policy also could make a tremendous difference to provider operations since it would allow them to have access to certain funds during the very lengthy period while they wait for the ALJ determination.

California’s 4th District Court of Appeal issued its opinion in Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, invalidating the portion of California IWC Wage Order No. 5 that permitted non-exempt health care employees to waive a second meal period for shifts longer than 12 hours.

Arent Fox partner Lowell C. Brown, head of the firm’s Health Care practice, was quoted in a recent Bloomberg BNA article following a novel and groundbreaking decision by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

When the Bylaws specifically and directly speak, for example, in matters of credentialing criteria, peer review processes, and Medical Staff hearing procedures, the pronouncements are not viewed as suggestions or hints. Rather, the Medical Staff Bylaws set forth requirements.

On February 10, 2015, in this most recent win for the federal enforcement agency, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the FTC’s injunction against St. Luke’s Health System and a large physician group in Idaho.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that, over the next four years, it plans to shift half of its traditional fee-for-service Medicare payments to those that create value through better coordinated care.

In a meeting with almost two dozen health care leaders on January 26, 2015, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell outlined the clear goals and timelines for moving the Medicare program towards quality-based payments, from quantity or fee-for-service payment models.

Arent Fox LLP has appointed partner Andrew I. Silfen to lead its New York office as Managing Partner.

For almost 30 years, hospitals and certain other health care organizations have been required to report to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) specified “adverse actions” regarding  physicians and dentists that they employ, contract with, or have on staff.

The beginning of 2015 brings implementation of The Joint Commission’s (TJC) newly rewritten Sentinel Events Policy (Policy) for hospitals. Released in late 2014, and effective January 1, 2015, the Policy clarifies and puts into operation new and revised definitions and expectations.

Arent Fox Health Care partner Lowell C. Brown was quoted several times in an article in Bloomberg BNA’s Health Law Reporter.

On December 30, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) published its annual solicitation for the development and/or modification of safe harbor provisions under the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General posted Advisory Opinion No. 14-11 addressing a charitable foundation’s request to provide cost-sharing assistance to financially needy patients diagnosed with either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

Arent Fox Health Care partner Linda A. Baumann was quoted extensively in an article in Bloomberg BNA’s Health Care Fraud Report, which previews the top compliance challenges facing health care providers and suppliers in 2015.