Dorsey Health Law Blog

For FY2018, Justice Department Touts Nearly $3 Billion in False Claims Act Recoveries, Mostly From Qui Tams and Alleged Healthcare Frauds

The Justice Department announced in a recent press release that it obtained more than $2.8 billion in settlements and judgments from cases involving fraud and false claims against the government. For more information, visit our FCA Now Blog: For FY2018, Justice Department Touts Nearly $3 Billion in False Claims Act Recoveries, Mostly From Qui Tams...

“Pathways to Success” – CMS Finalizes Overhaul of National ACO Program

On December 21, 2018, CMS announced a final rule, subsequently published in the December 31 issue of the federal register, significantly overhauling the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”). Among the important changes in the final rule is a redesign of MSSP’s participation options. Under MSSP, providers of services and suppliers participating in an Accountable Care...

FDA Testing New Approaches for Review of Digital Health Device Applications

On January 7, 2019, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced significant updates to the FDA’s pilot Software Pre-Certification Program, sometimes referred to more broadly as a Digital Health Pre-Certification Program (“Pre-Cert”). Pre-Cert was originally announced in 2017 as part of the FDA’s Digital Health Innovation Action Plan. The FDA envisions the program as a streamlined process...

CMS Announces Strategy to Reduce Health IT and EHR Burden

On Wednesday, November 28, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released a draft document titled, Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs.  The report was developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the HHS Office of the National...

CMS Finalizes Site-Neutral Payments for Hospital Outpatient Clinics; Legal Battle with Hospitals Looms

On Friday, November 2, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued its calendar year 2019 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System final rule. Despite significant resistance and concerns from hospitals, CMS finalized its proposed site-neutral payment policy for clinic visit services provided at off-campus provider-based...

CMS Proposed Rule to Require Drug Pricing Transparency

On October 18, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) proposed a new rule (“Proposal”) that would require direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) television advertisements of prescription drugs paid for by Medicare or Medicaid to include the drug’s wholesale acquisition cost (“List Price”). The Proposal comes as part of the current administration’s promise and attempt to...

President Trump Signs Federal “Gag Order” Pharmacy Bills

Today, President Trump signed into law two bills that have gained bipartisan support including the “Know the Lowest Price Act of 2018” and the “Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act”. Together, these two bills ban “gag order” clauses in contracts for Medicare and Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries and commercial employer-based and individual insurance policies. “Gag...

Healthcare Message Exempt under the TCPA’s Implementing Regulations

The Dorsey Health Law blog team keeps readers up-to-date on relevant topics in the health care industry. In order to do so, the members of the blog team communicate regularly with other practice groups within the firm for applicable updates from client publications. For this post, we would like to thank Dorsey’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”)...

OIG Seeks Public Input on Anti-Kickback Statute and Beneficiary Inducements CMP as part of the “Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care”

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has identified the anti-kickback statute (AKS) and beneficiary inducements civil monetary penalty (CMP) as potential barriers to arrangements that could promote better patient care coordination and value-based arrangements.  On August 27, 2018, the OIG published a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input...