On April 11, 2023, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its plan for termination of the existing notifications of enforcement discretion related to the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023.
Continue Reading Full HIPAA Enforcement to Resume as the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends
On February 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule outlining its audit methodology and related policies for its Medicare Advantage (MA) Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) program. The final rule codifies long-awaited regulations first proposed by CMS in 2018.
Continue Reading CMS’s Final Rule on Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment Data Validation
On December 1, 2022, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a bulletin warning that commonly used website technologies, including cookies, pixels, and session replay, may result in the impermissible disclosure of Protected Health Information (“PHI”) to third parties in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The bulletin advises that “[r]egulated entities are not permitted to use tracking technologies in a manner that would result in impermissible disclosures of Protected Health Information (“PHI”) to tracking technology vendors or any other violations of the HIPAA Rules.” The bulletin is issued amidst a wider national and international privacy landscape that is increasingly focused on regulating the collection and use of personal information through web-based technologies and software that may not be readily apparent to the user.
Continue Reading HHS Warns HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates That Use of Website Cookies, Pixels, and Other Tracking Technology May Violate HIPAA Rules
In two recent memoranda, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made changes to previously issued survey guidance related to COVID-19 vaccination issues.
Continue Reading CMS Reduces COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Surveys and Rescinds Surveyor Vaccination Requirements
In this episode of the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast: What challenges are providers likely to face as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) prepares its permanent COVID-19 standard for health care workers?
Attorneys Denise Dadika, Bob O’Hara, and Tim Murphy review the provisions of OSHA’s temporary COVID-19 standard for health care workers and what’s expected to change under the permanent rules. They also discuss how the agency’s current enforcement push is impacting health care providers.
In this episode of the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast: The Supreme Court recently upheld the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate, which requires recipients of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding to ensure that employees, including third- party contractors, are vaccinated against COVID-19. The Court’s decision has clear implications for owners of health care facilities and their contractors with active construction work in 2022 and beyond.
Continue Reading Podcast: Owner’s Outlook: Vaccine Mandate for Construction Workers at Health Care Facilities – Diagnosing Health Care
In this episode of the Diagnosing Health Care Podcast: This term, the Supreme Court of the United States is set to rule in a Medicare reimbursement case that has sparked a fresh look at the historical deference often granted to agencies and whether it should remain, be modified, or even be overruled.
Attorneys Stuart
On February 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement statistics for fiscal year (FY) 2021.[1]
With collections amounting to $5.6 billion, FY 2021 marks DOJ’s largest annual total FCA recovery since FY 2014, and more than twice the $2.3 billion received in FY 2020. FY 2021 was also a record-shattering year for DOJ as it relates to health care fraud enforcement; over $5 billion (90% of the total) was obtained from cases pursued against individuals and entities in the health care and life sciences industries.
Continue Reading DOJ Releases FY 2021 False Claims Act Recoveries: A Record-Shattering Year for Health Care and Life Sciences Enforcement, with Over $5 Billion Collected
On January 11, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published an anticipated proposed National Coverage Determination (“NCD”) decision memorandum that begins the process of determining whether the Medicare program will cover FDA-approved monoclonal antibodies directed against amyloid for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. (https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/ncacal-decision-memo.aspx?proposed=Y&NCAId=305).
The proposed decision, which is subject to public comments that are due to CMS by February 10, 2022, does not endorse nationwide Medicare coverage for these drugs. Instead, CMS chose an alternate pathway known as Coverage with Evidence Development (“CED”). If the proposal is adopted by CMS, it would set in motion a detailed regulatory process that includes temporary Medicare coverage for the drug but only for certain Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in an additional clinical trial intended to test whether these drugs will have a significant benefit for Medicare beneficiaries. CMS expects to issue a decision by April 11, 2022 to approve or reject the CED process after reviewing comments from interested parties.
Continue Reading CMS “Splits the Baby” on Aduhelm—Medicare Coverage but Only with Evidence Development for Now
On September 15, 2021, CMS published a proposed rule that would repeal a final rule that created an expedited pathway for Medicare coverage of breakthrough devices and established formal criteria for applying the “reasonable and necessary” standard for coverage in Section 1862(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act, which has been the basic standard for coverage since the inception of the Medicare program.[1] CMS has set a short period for comments, and interested parties must submit comments by October 15, 2021.
The new proposed rule reflects a significant policy change. Where the initial rule focused on expanding access to new innovations, the current approach focuses more on Medicare program goals and outcomes data.
Continue Reading CMS Proposes to Reverse Course and Repeal Its Final Rule Expediting Medicare Coverage of Breakthrough Devices and Defining the Medicare “Reasonable and Necessary” Coverage Standard