At first blush, the passage of House Bill 5483, entitled the “Special Registration for Telemedicine Clarification Act of 2018” (the “Bill”), appears to address the issue concerning the lack of regulatory guidance regarding the “Special Registration” exception to the Ryan Haight Act of 2008; however, a deeper and more careful analysis reveals that the
VA Leads in Changing the Telehealth Landscape
Effective June 11, 2018, all Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) health care providers will be able to offer the same level of care to all beneficiaries regardless of the beneficiary’s or the health care provider’s location. In its recently released final rule, the VA stated that in December 2016 Congress mandated that the agency
Florida Will No Longer Require State Laboratory Licensure
The Florida State Legislature has decided to eliminate its state licensure requirement for clinical laboratories. Effective July 1, 2018, Florida’s recent legislation (SB 622) repeals the entirety of Chapter 483, Part I of the Florida statutes, and in doing so removes the state licensure requirement for clinical laboratories operating in-state and out-of-state. Section
OIG Finds CMS Overpayments for Telehealth Services
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report revealing that during OIG’s 2014 and 2015 audits of telehealth claims, more than half of the professional telehealth claims paid by the Medicare program did not have matching originating-site facility claims.
According to the report, Medicare telehealth spending
They Giveth and They Taketh Away: CMS Policy Proposals on Supplemental Benefits under MA Plans
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (“CMS”) recently announced its intent to expand what may be considered “supplemental benefits,” broadening the scope of items and services that could be offered to Medicare Advantage (“MA”) plan enrollees over and above the benefits covered under original Medicare. However, in articulating the standards for covering this broadened
Letter from U.S. Senators Applies Additional Pressure to DEA to Promulgate “Special Registration” Rules Under the Ryan Haight Act
The calls for utilizing telemedicine in battling the opioid crises in the U.S. are growing louder. On January 30, 2018, Senators Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), sent a letter to Robert W. Patterson, the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to promulgate regulations that
ONC’s Draft Interoperability Framework Lays Out Guidelines Pushing for More Cohesion Among Health Integrated Networks
On January 5, 2018, consistent with the 21st Century Cures Act’s focus on creating interoperability and correspondingly a Trusted Exchange, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”) released its “Draft Trusted Exchange Framework” (“Draft Framework”). The Draft Framework is intended to streamline the exchange of Electronic Health Information (“EHI”) so
Top Five Takeaways from MedPAC’s Meeting on Medicare Issues and Policy Developments – December 2017
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”) met in Washington, DC, on December 7-8, 2017. The purpose of this and other public meetings of MedPAC is for the commissioners to review the issues and challenges facing the Medicare program and then make policy recommendations to Congress. MedPAC issues these recommendations in two annual reports, one in
Top Five Takeaways from MedPAC’s Meeting on Medicare Issues and Policy Developments – November 2017
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”) met in Washington, DC on November 2-3, 2017. The purpose of this and other public meetings of MedPAC is for the commissioners to review the issues and challenges facing the Medicare program and then make policy recommendations to Congress. MedPAC issues these recommendations in two annual reports, one in
Opioid Addiction Treatment Through Telemedicine: How Federal Law Prohibits, but Could Permit, Controlled Substance Prescribing
On October 26, 2017, President Trump directed the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“Secretary”) to declare a National Public Health Emergency on the opioid epidemic. While the President offered few details regarding how his administration will address the challenge of treating patients struggling with opioid addiction, a previous statement from the