On June 7, 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 21-26 “An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Public Health Statutes” (the “Act”). This Act makes notable changes to laws affecting hospital and health system practices, including the following:

Hospitals Required to Give Patients Option to Contact Family or other

On October 27, 2020, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned the health care industry about “an imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.”

According to the warning, which was shared during a conference call, the government has received “credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.” The information was being shared with participants so that they can take timely precautions to protect their networks from the threat.
Continue Reading Warning to Hospitals of Imminent Threat Released by U.S. Government

On June 24, 2020 the New York State Department of Health (DOH) published formal notice of its June 5th emergency rule “necessary to clarify and strengthen the Department’s authority and that of the local health departments to take specific actions to control the spread of disease, including actions related to investigation and response to

On April 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period (the “Rule”) which sets forth additional regulatory waivers and other changes to healthcare regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Today’s actions are informed by requests from healthcare providers as well as by the Coronavirus

Massachusetts government agencies have issued recent guidance and updates concerning the COVID-19 emergency. A summary is provided below.

Allowing Health Care Personnel with Potential Exposure to COVID-19 to Continue to Work

On March 19, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued the following Guidance for Health Care Personnel with Potential Exposure to Patients with COVID-19

Massachusetts executive agencies have been issuing an array of further guidance to the healthcare provider community regarding COVID-19.  All orders and guidance are available at https://www.mass.gov/2019coronavirus. Review of this website and CDC websites for periodic updates is strongly encouraged, as the situation is fluid and continually evolving.
Continue Reading Massachusetts COVID-19 Guidance for Health Care Providers, Payors and Laboratories on Issues Including Telehealth, Elective Procedures, COVID-19 Testing, and Provider Licensure

On December 12, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will automatically reprocess claims which had been reimbursed at a reduced rate in 2019 under the site-neutral payment policy and pay hospitals monies that were withheld due to the policy.

In November 2018, CMS promulgated a Final Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Rule and implemented its site-neutral payment policy, which cut Medicare reimbursement rates for outpatient hospital services provided at certain off-campus, provider-based departments (PBDs) to the lower Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rate for the clinic visit services – a 60 percent reduction from the OPPS reimbursement rate for the same service. CMS planned to phase in application of this payment reduction over two years. The American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, and nearly 40 hospitals challenged the policy, arguing that the Medicare Act did not allow CMS to cut the rates. CMS believed it could develop a method to set payment rates for a particular service that is causing “an unnecessary increase in cost and volume without regard to budget neutrality.”
Continue Reading CMS to Repay Hospitals Millions After Court Finds Reduction in Rates Improper

On July 9, 2019, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act No. 19-176 (PA 19-176), “An Act Concerning Newborn Screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.” Starting on January 1, 2020, this law requires hospitals and other institutions that care for newborn infants to screen such infants for spinal muscular atrophy. As with

On June 6, 2018, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law Public Act No. 18-115 “An Act Concerning Disputes Between Health Carriers and Participating Providers That Are Hospitals” (PA 18-115). This legislation updates state laws concerning the departure or removal of a hospital from an insurance carrier’s provider network. PA 18-115 takes effect July 1, 2018.
Continue Reading Connecticut Enacts Legislation to Address Hospital-Insurer Network Conflicts