Legal and practical healthcare information.
The current Public Health Emergency expiration deadline is this month. However, the Secretary of the Health and Human Services indicated he would provide a 60-day notice before ending the PHE in order to minimize disruptions and potential loss of government and private insurance coverage. That notice has not yet occurred. Therefore, we expect another 90 …
Continue reading “Telehealth Update: Telehealth Waivers Post-PHE and Fraud and Abuse”
On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court released Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs decision has employers scrambling to understand the impact on group health plan coverage. Many employers are considering implementing travel reimbursement options to assist employees who wish to seek abortions that might be restricted …
On June 22, 2022, via the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released its “Telehealth and Substance Use Disorder Services in the Era of COVID-19: Review and Recommendations” (Guidance). While this publication does not have the force of law, it is clear direction to legislators …
Continue reading “White House issues recommendations on telehealth and SUD services – Part II”
On February 12, 2022, the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship of the House Committee on the Judiciary held a very informative hearing regarding the relevance of foreign physicians in the healthcare system of the United States (U.S.). The hearing was titled, “Is There a Doctor in the House? The Role of Immigrant Physicians in the …
Continue reading “Immigration Healthcare Cures for Physicians – A Quixotic Venture?”
In June 2022, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), via the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association, released its “Telehealth and Substance Use Disorder Services in the Era of COVID-19: Review and Recommendations” (the “SUD Recommendations”). Although this publication does not have the force of law, it provides clear directions to …
Continue reading “White House Issues Recommendations on Telehealth and SUD services”
The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently announced guidelines for the application of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) to audio-only telehealth encounters following the end of the declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”). As reported here at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the HHS Office …
Continue reading “Post-Pandemic HIPAA Guidelines for Audio-Only Telehealth”
A prior article in this publication (IRS Attack on Zeroed Out Taxable Income in Recent Tax Court Cases) discussed the lessons that physician and other incorporated medical practice groups could learn from taxpayer losses in two then recent Tax Court cases in use of the “zero out” technique in the payment of compensation to the …
Continue reading “Continued IRS Attack On ‘Zero Out’ Of Profits”
Oftentimes, healthcare entities’ employees are also patients of the healthcare entity, creating a dual role as employer and employee as well as doctor and patient. But what can an employer do when they need to access an employee’s medical records? Are these medical records treated differently than non-employee patients? Throughout the last few years, we …
On March 10, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) appointed a Director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement.[1] As a part of this announcement, DOJ announced some of its priorities in Health Care Fraud enforcement. The priorities focus on kickbacks, utilizing the relaxed rules to bill for medically unnecessary or never performed services, vaccine-related fraud, and fraud …
As previously reported here, courts are known to “blue pencil” terms of non-compete provisions in employment agreements that do not appear to further legitimate business interests. Earlier this year, an Ohio appellate court affirmed the lower court’s modification of the scope and duration of a challenged non-compete provision found to be partially unreasonable. In Metrohealth …
Continue reading “Recent Guidance on Enforceability of Physician Non-Competes”