Category: Uncategorized

OCR Issues Notice of Resolution to the State of Hawaii After Hawaii Takes Action in Safeguarding Conscience Protections for Pregnancy Care Centers

OCR Issues Notice of Resolution to the State of Hawaii After Hawaii Takes Action in Safeguarding Conscience Protections for Pregnancy Care Centers

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that it issued a Notice of Resolution to the State of Hawaii after Hawaii took corrective action in response to OCR’s investigation of complaints of discrimination by the state against non-profit pregnancy resource centers. Complainants, Aloha Pregnancy […]

Whistleblowers allege CHS made false claims about EHR technology

Whistleblowers allege CHS made false claims about EHR technology

March 14, 2019 04:51 PM UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO SHELBY LIVINGSTON   A whistleblower accused Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems of submitting hundreds of millions of dollars in false claims to HHS for federal incentive payments for meaningfully using electronic health records. The lawsuit, unsealed by a federal court in Miami on Thursday, claimed that CHS made […]

Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan name joint venture Haven

Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan name joint venture Haven

Modern Healthcare, March 06, 2019 05:23 PM   Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase’s year-old and highly touted joint venture will be called Haven. The venture’s newly launched website reveals few details about the widely anticipated, not-for-profit entity. The three parent companies said in January that they would leverage their combined scale and expertise to develop technology solutions to […]

OCR Concludes All-Time Record Year for HIPAA Enforcement with $3 Million Cottage Health Settlement February 7, 2019

OCR Concludes All-Time Record Year for HIPAA Enforcement with $3 Million Cottage Health Settlement February 7, 2019

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services concluded an all-time record year in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enforcement activity.  In 2018, OCR settled 10 cases and was granted summary judgment in a case before an Administrative Law Judge, together totaling $28.7 million from enforcement […]

Senators voice interest in Medicare Part D, Part B reforms

Senators voice interest in Medicare Part D, Part B reforms

By Susannah Luthi  | January 29, 2019 The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday signaled interest in bolstering key points in the Trump administration’s drug-pricing blueprint, including potential structural reforms for Medicare Part B and Part D. Senators from both sides of the aisle waded into a proposal highly unpopular with physicians and hospitals, aimed at removing the incentive […]

HHS suggests transforming safe harbors for Part D drug rebates

HHS suggests transforming safe harbors for Part D drug rebates

By Robert King  | January 31, 2019 HHS issued a long-awaited proposed rule on Thursday that excludes the rebates drugmakers pay to pharmacy benefit managers on Medicare Part D plans from protections from anti-kickback laws.  The proposed rule also applies to safe harbor protections for Medicare managed-care organizations.  The agency instead will propose new safe harbor […]

Nevada AG gets OK to hire law firm to sue opioid makers

Nevada AG gets OK to hire law firm to sue opioid makers

By Colton Lochhead / Las Vegas Review-Journal January 30, 2019 – 7:32 pm CARSON CITY — The Nevada Attorney General’s office got the OK Wednesday to hire a law firm to sue opioid manufacturers. The Interim Finance Committee approved the request for the Attorney General’s office enter hire outside counsel on a contingency fee, meaning the […]

Part D plans would take on more financial risk under new CMMI model

Part D plans would take on more financial risk under new CMMI model

By Susannah Luthi  | January 18, 2019 The CMS Innovation Center on Friday announced a new model to try to shrink skyrocketing Medicare Part D drug spending, and expanded its so-called value-based insurance design model for Medicare Advantage plans across all 50 states. The strategy for Part D targets the high spend in the catastrophic phase […]

Supreme Court gears up to review Medicare DSH formula

Supreme Court gears up to review Medicare DSH formula

By Susannah Luthi  | January 14, 2019 The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in an appeal over whether HHS can recalculate its Medicare disproportionate-share hospital payments without going through the full rulemaking process to get public input on the change. HHS petitioned the high court to take the case last spring, estimating that the government would have to pay […]

Tennessee physicians win $58 million judgment against Wellmont Health

Tennessee physicians win $58 million judgment against Wellmont Health

By Harris Meyer  | December 20, 2018 A physician independent practice association in Tennessee has won a $58 million class-action judgment against Wellmont Health System based on allegations that the system tried to undermine the IPA and signed payer contracts outside the physician network. Highlands Physicians, a 1,500-physician group based in Kingsport, Tenn., won the verdict Tuesday following a 13-day […]