On July 11, 2022, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, issued a letter to hospitals stating that the Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires physicians and...more
7/15/2022
/ Abortion ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
EMTALA ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Patient Access ,
Policy Statement ,
Preemption ,
Pregnancy ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
SCOTUS ,
Women's Rights
On December 14, 2020, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) opened the official public comment period on the Assisted Living Facilities Proposed Rules in advance of a virtual public hearing to be held January 19-20, 2021....more
On September 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued revised temporary regulations pertaining to the emergency paid sick leave and paid family leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act...more
On August 1, 2020, the revised Minnesota civil commitment statute took effect. While the standard for civil commitment has not changed, the statute was substantially rewritten and updated to reflect Minnesota's current mental...more
In an effort to combat the ongoing epidemic of opioid misuse and opioid-related morbidity and mortality, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Opioid Prescribing Work Group (OPWG) recently issued Draft Opioid...more
12/11/2017
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Health Care Providers ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Public Health ,
Public Safety ,
Substance Abuse
Payments to physicians, even for routine, necessary duties, may cause referrals to the entity making the payments to be "prohibited referrals" under the Stark Law. This means the hospital or other entity should not have...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently proposed a six-month delay for home health agencies (HHAs) to implement the revised conditions of participation (CoPs) that HHAs must satisfy to participate in the...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a final rule, 42 C.F.R. pt. 484, implementing significant changes to the conditions of participation (CoPs) that home health agencies (HHAs) must satisfy to...more
2/7/2017
/ Assessment ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Conditions of Participation (CoP) ,
Emergency Response ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Infections ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Patient Rights ,
Performance Standards ,
Quality of Care Standards
The 21st Century Cures Act (Act), enacted in December 2016, has received widespread coverage for funding biomedical research and streamlining the drug approval process. The Act also includes the Helping Families in Mental...more
2/3/2017
/ 21st Century Cures Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Grants ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HRSA ,
Medicaid ,
Mental Health ,
Mental Health Parity Rule ,
Opioid ,
Pediatrics ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
SAMHSA ,
Substance Abuse ,
Underserved Locations
On November 1, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the 2017 Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Final Rule. One aspect of this rule is the implementation of payment decreases for...more
11/11/2016
/ Billing ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
Off-Campus Departments ,
OPPS ,
Payment Rates
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Reporting and Returning of Overpayments Final Rule (Final Rule) on February 12, 2016. The Final Rule implements Section 6402(a) of the Affordable Care Act,...more
4/12/2016
/ 60-Day Rule ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicare Part A ,
Medicare Part B ,
Overpayment Recovery Time Limits ,
Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol ,
Reporting Requirements
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Reporting and Returning of Overpayments Final Rule (Final Rule) on February 12, 2016. The Final Rule implements section 6402(a) of the Affordable Care Act which...more
On December 2, 2015, the Minnesota Commissioner of Health announced the addition of intractable pain to the list of qualifying conditions for Minnesota's medical cannabis program. Intractable pain is defined as "a pain state...more
On November 2, 2015, President Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, a two-year budget deal with a key provision affecting hospitals and other health care providers. Effective January 1, 2017, the Act decreases the...more
11/4/2015
/ Bipartisan Agreement ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Federal Budget ,
HCPCS ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
MPFS ,
Obama Administration ,
OPPS ,
Physicians
On June 9, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a Fraud Alert regarding recent settlements with 12 individual physicians who were party to questionable medical...more
On December 31, 2014 the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in Medical Staff of Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center v. Avera Marshall on limited issues regarding a medical staff’s capacity to sue and be sued and the contractual...more