Health Law Advisor

As Ebola has become a worldwide threat, the U.S. Government has provided guidance to prepare numerous agencies and entities that may become involved or affected by Ebola.  On November 7, 2013, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance to Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) carriers on their responsibilities for handling members who have been exposed to or infected with the Ebola virus. FEHB Program Carrier Letter No. 2014-26 is available at http://www.opm.gov/healthcare-insurance/healthcare/carriers.

OPM instructs carriers that special ...

Late last month, the FDA finalized a new guidance document, explaining the agency's current thinking on the circumstances that may arise in connection with an establishment inspection that it would consider to impose an inappropriate limitation on its inspection authority.  The Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) deems a drug or medical device adulterated if it has been manufactured processed, packed, or held in any factory, warehouse, or establishment that delays, denies, or limits an inspection, or refuses to permit entry or inspection.

The ...

Everyone is talking about Ebola, including the risk of contracting it, treatment for those who do contract it, and protection for those who treat patients who have it.  There has been very little discussion, though, about how to pay for the costs of treating Ebola patients, including whether health insurance will cover the treatment and pay the providers.

Most health insurance coverage that complies with the ACA minimum essential coverage standards will cover the costs of medically necessary hospitalization and physician services.  However, many of those policies have significant ...

In something of a surprise, the Supreme Court today granted certiorari in the Fourth Circuit case of King v. Burwell, in which the court of appeals had upheld the government's view that the Affordable Care Act makes federal premium tax credits available to taxpayers in all states, even where the federal government, not the state, has set up an exchange. In doing so, the Supreme Court rebuffed the Solicitor General's request that the Court decline cert. as various cases worked their way through the Courts of Appeals.

It was only a few days ago that the government had filed a brief in ...

On October 29, 2014, the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals ("OMHA") hosted its second Medicare Appellant Forum ("Forum") to address the status of the Medicare appeals backlog and related processing delays of Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") appeals, which are the third level of the Medicare appeals process that is available to suppliers, providers, and Medicare beneficiaries to challenge denied claims. Last week's Forum was a follow-up to OMHA's February 2014 Appellant Forum, which offered few assurances to stakeholders at the time that any effective remedies to the ...

By Frank C. Morris, Jr.

The Ebola virus disease (“Ebola”) has become a worldwide threat, which, among many other effects, has forced employers to think about how to protect their employees. Employers also must consider how Ebola might impact employment policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, those addressing attendance, leaves of absence, discipline, and medical testing.

My colleagues and I have written a detailed Act Now advisory providing legal framework of best practices and legal risks pertaining to Ebola.

Click here to read the advisory in its entirety.

WHEN: November 17, 2014

TIME:    2:00pm – 3:30pm EST

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Please join us for a complimentary webinar addressing the professional and business challenges encountered by health care providers dealing with Ebola and other infectious diseases. This webinar will offer a clinical overview as well as a review of the guidelines which offer protocols for addressing concerns over Ebola and similar diseases, the health regulatory and risk management issues providers might consider in developing a response strategy, and the resulting labor and ...

WHEN: November 17, 2014

TIME:    2:00pm – 3:30pm EST

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Please join us for a complimentary webinar addressing the professional and business challenges encountered by health care providers dealing with Ebola and other infectious diseases. This webinar will offer a clinical overview as well as a review of the guidelines which offer protocols for addressing concerns over Ebola and similar diseases, the health regulatory and risk management issues providers might consider in developing a response strategy, and the resulting labor and ...

Who knew?!  Buried among more than 1,000 pages of a new final rule with comment period on payments to physicians, released on October 31, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finally has given telehealth providers a glimpse of its plans to expand reimbursement for telehealth services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. 

The final rule includes a provision that would cover remote chronic care management using a new current procedural terminology (“CPT”) code, 99490 (with a monthly unadjusted, non-facility fee of $42.60).  This new CPT code can be ...

As you may recall, a DC Circuit panel held that the Affordable Care Act makes federal premium tax credits available to taxpayers only in States where the State has established an exchange – which is what the ACA literally provides. On the same day, the Fourth Circuit issued a contrary decision in King v. Burwell, accepting the government's argument that where HHS sets up an exchange in a State, that is a State exchange. The same argument is being made by the appellant (the government lost in District Court) in Oklahoma ex rel. Scott Pruitt v. Burwell, which is pending before the 10th ...