ALERT: Health Reform Outlook for 2017: A Year of Major Uncertainty
Author: Mazen Asbahi
Fulfilling their promises, Congressional Republicans moved to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the first day of the new Congress when Senate Budget Committee Chair Michael Enzi (R-WY) introduced “reconciliation instructions.” These instructions would enable Congress to substantially repeal the ACA through the budget reconciliation process, in which bills can be passed on a simple majority basis and cannot be filibustered… Read More
ALERT: New Anti-Kickback Safe Harbors
Author: Christina M. Kuta
On December 7, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), issued a final rule creating additional “safe harbors” for the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute (42 USC § 1320a-7b(b) et seq.) (AKS), which will go into effect January 6, 2017. Generally, the AKS prohibits the giving or receiving of remuneration in exchange for or to induce referrals for services and business payable by a federal health care program. The OIG has enumerated a number of “safe harbor” provisions since 1999. If an arrangement meets the requirements of a relevant safe harbor provision, any remuneration exchanged pursuant to such an arrangement is deemed not to violate the AKS... Read More
ALERT: New Federal Law Provides Additional Protection for Trade Secrets
Author: Lee Levin
For the first time in U.S. history, a law was added providing federal protection for businesses’ trade secrets. The Defend Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S. Code Section 1831 et. al. (DTSA) became law as an amendment to the Economic Espionage Act… Read More
ALERT: Federal Court Enjoins CMS Regulation Banning Arbitration of Nursing Home Disputes
Author: David J. Hochman
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi issued a preliminary injunction barring the scheduled November 28, 2016, implementation of a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) regulation which would cut off federal funds for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that require pre-dispute arbitration agreements with their residents or require that a resident agree to arbitration as a condition of admission to the facility. Pre-existing arbitration agreements are not affected by either the regulation or the preliminary injunction... Read More
INDUSTRY NEWS: Why the Best Hospitals Are Managed by Doctors
Harvard Business Review
Health care has become extraordinarily complex — the balance of quality against cost, and of technology against humanity, are placing ever-increasing demands on clinicians. These challenges require extraordinary leaders. Doctors were once viewed as ill-prepared for leadership roles because their selection and training led them to become “heroic lone healers.” But this is changing. The emphasis on patient-centered care and efficiency in the delivery of clinical outcomes means that physicians are now being prepared for leadership… More Information
INDUSTRY NEWS: 2017 Brings More Access To Nurse Practitioners, PAs And Telemedicine
Forbes | Pharma & Healthcare
Americans are poised in 2017 to gain even more access to nurse practitioners, physician assistants and health professionals via smartphones, apps and related digital health technology. Across the country, states led by both Republicans and Democrats have eased scope-of-practice laws to allow easier access to nurse practitioners and physician assistants. And associations for “NPs” and “PAs” are increasing their lobbying to intensify their push in 2017 to serve more patients... More Information
INDUSTRY NEWS: What Doctors Think About the Affordable Care Act
CNN
Doctors have long complained about any rules and regulations that take them away from providing care for their patients. But for Hill, the Affordable Care Act took things too far. "The ACA took this terrible broken health care system and added a lot of burden onto physicians," Hill says. "We're losing the focus of who we're supposed to be taking care of: the patient. You're not my customer anymore. Now, I've got to respond to the federal bureaucracy, not you…” More Information
