The DEA Is Knocking at Your Door . . . Are You Prepared? – Diagnosing Health Care
340B Drug Pricing Program Compliance
Podcast: Post-Dobbs Access to Reproductive Health Care and Abortion-Inducing Drugs - Diagnosing Health Care
Podcast: Impact of COVID-19 on Pharmacist Scope of Practice: Before and After the PREP Act - Diagnosing Health Care
Hooper, Kearney and Macklin on Cutting Edge Topics in the False Claims Act
Edible Bites Episode 3: Cannabis and Life Sciences Video Webinar Series
Health Care Continues to Drive False Claims Act Recoveries: Thought Leaders in Health Law Video Series
Drug Pricing Initiatives During the Trump Presidency
Bill on Bankruptcy: AMR Make-Whole Opinion Vulnerable on Appeal
A new litigation trend is emerging regarding fiduciaries of health plans and their duties to prudently evaluate fees being charged by pharmacy benefit managers (“PBM”). Two Fortune 50 employers, Johnson & Johnson and Wells...more
Last week, former Wells Fargo employees filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo and its health plan fiduciaries alleging that Wells Fargo’s self-funded health plan violated ERISA by paying its pharmacy benefits...more
The Florida Board of Pharmacy permits pharmacies serving residents and patients at long-term care facilities (nursing homes, ALFs, homes for DD residents, etc.) as either Special Closed System Pharmacies or Community...more
Americans spend more than $3 trillion per-year on healthcare-related expenses. Of that, the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association estimates that between $60-250 billion is lost to fraud every year....more
Only a few days remain for stakeholders—which includes drug manufacturers, patients, health care providers, pharmacies and others— to take advantage of a rare opportunity to influence the statutory contours of the 340B Drug...more
News Briefs - U.S. to Accelerate Medicare Payments in Wake of Cyberattack - The U.S. government said it will accelerate Medicare and Medicaid payments to some hospitals hurt by a hack at insurer UnitedHealth's technology unit...more
The Louisiana Insurance Department (“Department”) recently fined Express Scripts Administrators, LLC (“ESA”) $275,000 and MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc. (“MedImpact”) $250,000 for allegedly failing to pay electronically...more
On September 18, 2023, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) published proposed rules to implement provisions of the Prescription Drug Reform Act (Florida Senate Bill 1550) governing Pharmacy Benefit Managers...more
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) take note! Under Florida’s new Prescription Drug Reform Act, PBMs must be licensed as an insurance administrator (also known as a third-party administrator, or TPA). Under this new law, any...more
On Monday, October 2, 2023, the New York Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) published its Annual Report for 2022. The Report details the various efforts that New York’s Medicaid program undertook in 2022 to...more
We spent a couple lovely days with the Western Medicaid Pharmacy Administrators Association members in Tucson, Arizona. The following is a summary of key focus areas for many of the member states...more
On August 15, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (the “Tenth Circuit”) issued its decision in Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) v. Mulready, one of the first major opinions to further define...more
In a win for self-funded (i.e., self-insured) health plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), the Tenth Circuit recently ruled that ERISA preempts provisions of an Oklahoma law...more
ERISA’s notorious preemption clause is no more than a few lines of text. But it has a dramatic effect on the trillions of dollars flowing through ERISA pension and health plans in any given year. The U.S. Supreme Court has...more
n June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously settled a long-standing dispute over a subjective versus objective standard for scienter under the False Claims Act (FCA), holding that a defendant’s own subjective belief is...more
The Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) allows private parties to bring lawsuits in the name of the federal government against defendants who allegedly “knowingly” present a false claim to the government for payment. The...more
Insurance regulators and examiners (“Insurance Regulators”) are increasing their efforts to scrutinize pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”), including conducting examinations of their business operations and initiating...more
In one of the most closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) cases in years, the Supreme Court unanimously decided on June 1 that when determining intent under the statute, courts must consider the state of mind of the defendant...more
This legislative session, Florida has joined Arkansas and Oklahoma among the most regulatory-minded states with respect to pharmacy benefit plans and programs as well as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Florida's...more
On January 18, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul released her budget proposal for State Fiscal Year 2023. While record-breaking in its size—totaling $216.3 billion—and inclusive of many investments in Medicaid and health care more...more
In this season of goodwill, gratitude, and giving, it's worth considering that both friends and strangers can have medical needs that we can ease with little pain or inconvenience to ourselves. Here's a sampling of five ways...more
Recent court trends suggest that preemption under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) may not apply to certain state laws that regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), including state laws governing Maximum...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent unanimous decision clears the way for state regulation of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (“PBMs”). Rutledge v. Pharm. Care Mgmt. Ass’n, 141 S. Ct. 474 (2020). At issue before the High Court was...more
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”) last month, in a decision that marks a major win for state regulators. (See Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, 2020 WL 7250098 (U.S....more
Recently, the Supreme Court released its decision in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. The case considers whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) preempts an Arkansas state...more