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Les Levinson is the co-chair of the Transactional Healthcare Practice Group at Robinson+Cole. His practice concentrates on transactional, regulatory, and compliance matters for healthcare and life science clients, including home care and hospice companies, other non-acute providers, physician practices, hospitals, information technology and medical device companies, healthcare equipment providers and healthcare investors, lenders, and related enterprises and he has completed over 300 M&A and financing transactions. Read his full rc.com bio here.

On December 27, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) which proposes certain policy and technical changes to Medicare regulations, including a notable change to the current standard under the “60-Day Rule” for identifying a Medicare overpayment. Specifically, CMS indicated that it is proposing to (i) “adopt by reference” the federal False Claims Act’s (FCA) definitions of “knowing” and “knowingly” as governing when an overpayment is identified, and (ii) eliminate the “reasonable diligence” standard that has been in place, but subject to challenges, for a number of years.Continue Reading No More Reasonable Diligence? CMS Proposes to Change Standard for Identifying Medicare Overpayments to Align with False Claims Act

On November 4, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the calendar year 2023 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate final rule, which updates Medicare payment policies and rates for home health agencies.  Some of the key changes implemented by the final rule are summarized below.Continue Reading CMS Issues Calendar Year 2023 Home Health Final Rule

On August 18, 2022, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed S-315, “An Act concerning changes in control of health care entities” (the Act). The Act implements employment protection for healthcare workers when certain licensed health care facilities, staffing registries, and home care services in New Jersey undergo a change in ownership. The Act first requires that former health care entity employers provide the successor health care entity with information pertaining to employees (i.e., employee names, addresses, dates of hire, phone numbers, wage rates, employment classifications) not less than thirty days before a change in control. The Act also requires former health care entity owners to inform eligible employees of the rights provided by the Act and to post a notice of their rights under the Act in a conspicuous location.Continue Reading New Jersey Governor Signs Act Concerning Changes in Control of Health Care Entities

On June 2, 2022, the New York State Legislature passed A08472, “An Act to Amend the Public Health Law, in Relation to the Establishment, Incorporation, Construction, or Increase in Capacity of For-Profit Hospice” (“the Act”). The Act prohibits the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) of the New York Department of Health (DOH) from approving any new applications for the establishment, incorporation, or construction of a for-profit hospice. Additionally, the bill prohibits PHHPC from approving any increases in capacity to existing for-profit hospices in the state. The two current for-profit hospices will remain approved but cannot expand capacity. The Act will now be presented to the Governor for signature. Once signed by the Governor, the Act will become effective immediately.Continue Reading New York State Legislature Passes Act Enacting Moratorium on For-Profit Hospices

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) recently released a “Dear Administrator Letter” (DAL) DHCSB 22-02 for Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LCHSAs).  The DAL addresses guidance and procedures for LCHAs as they relate to certain administrative licensure amendments.  Such amendments include changing the service, county of operation, sites, address of agency or operator, the corporate name or assumed name (d/b/a), or closing a site.
Continue Reading New York State Department of Health Releases Administrative Guidance for LCHSAs’ Licensure Amendments

The New York Department of Health (DOH) proposed amendments and additions to 10 NYCRR 765 that would amend application processes for Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LHCSA). These regulatory changes stem from the 2018 NY State budget, which established a two-year moratorium on LHCSA applications and stipulated certain changes to licensure requirements. If finalized, the proposed regulations will create new public need and financial feasibility requirements for LHCSA applications, in addition to the existing character and competence requirement, and will change what constitutes an application amendment requiring the approval of the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC).
Continue Reading New York DOH Proposed New Licensure Regulations for LHCSAs to be Effective April 1, 2020

On October 31, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its 2020 payment and policy changes rule for Home Health Agencies (HHA Rule).  The final rule is scheduled to be posted in the Federal Register on November 8, 2019 (see the since published rule), and allows for comments until December 30 in advance of its January 1, 2020, effective date. The HHA Rule makes changes to the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS), including the implementation of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), and makes other policy changes for home health agencies to the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP).  These changes further the shift to a value-based payment system focusing on patient need over volume of care.
Continue Reading CMS Finalizes 2020 Home Health Agency Payment and Policy Changes

On September 18, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $21.36 million settlement with compounding pharmacy Patient Care America (PCA), as well as PCA’s Chief Executive, PCA’s former Vice President of Operations, and a private equity firm (PE Firm) that managed PCA on behalf of investors. The settlement resolves a False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit alleging involvement in a kickback scheme designed to generate unnecessary referrals for prescription pain creams, scar creams, and vitamins reimbursed by TRICARE, the federal health care program for military members and their families. No determination of liability was made as part of the settlement. See our prior analysis of DOJ’s intervention in this case here.
Continue Reading DOJ Reaches $21.36 Million Agreement with Compounding Pharmacy, Two of its Executives, and Managing Private Equity Firm to Resolve FCA Allegations

“A mere difference of opinion between physicians, without more, is not enough to show falsity.”

In a 3-0 decision issued September 9, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a three-year-old district court ruling in United States v. AseraCare, Inc. that a Medicare claim for hospice services cannot be deemed false under the False Claims Act (FCA) based on a difference in clinical judgment. This decision – apparently the first circuit-level determination of the “standard for falsity [under the FCA] in the context of the Medicare hospice benefit” – will affect all hospice providers, as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and whistleblowers will not be able to rely on disagreements between physician opinions as the basis for establishing falsity under the FCA. Instead, the Eleventh Circuit instructs that a claim for hospice reimbursement “cannot be “false” – and thus cannot trigger FCA liability – if the underlying clinical judgment does not reflect an objective falsehood.” The Eleventh Circuit’s decision emphasizes that reasonable differences of opinion between physician reviewers of medical documentation are not sufficient to suggest that the judgments concerning a particular patient’s eligibility for Medicare’s hospice benefit, or any claims submitted based on such judgments, are false for purposes of the FCA.
Continue Reading Eleventh Circuit Endorses Objective Falsehood Standard for False Claims Cases Concerning Physician Judgment of Hospice Eligibility

On July 25, 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (SHIELD Act) into law. The SHIELD Act modifies the current Breach Notification Law to expand the types of data elements that are considered “private information” and to expand the data breach disclosure requirements for individuals and businesses. Moreover, the law creates a requirement that owners or licensors of private information meet a new “reasonable security requirement.”
Continue Reading SHIELD Act Becomes Law, Expanding Breach Notification and Data Security Requirements