As part of its 2025 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (PFS Rule), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized two crucial updates to federal Medicare overpayments regulations (sometimes referred to as the “60-Day Rule”) that (1) align the standard for when an overpayment is identified with the applicable standard under the
Medicare
DOJ Charges 36 Defendants in Connection with Telemedicine and Clinical Laboratory Fraud and Abuse Schemes
By Danielle Tangorre & Guest Contributor on
*This post was co-authored by Lily Denslow, legal intern at Robinson+Cole. Lily is not admitted to practice law.
On June 27, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action, which resulted in criminal charges against 193 defendants for alleged participation in various health care fraud schemes alleged to…
CMS Announces 0.8 Percent Aggregate Home Health Payment Increase in 2024
By Leslie Levinson, Danielle Tangorre & Guest Contributor on
Posted in Health Policy, Home Health/ Home Care
On Wednesday, November 1, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update final rule for CY 2024 (the Final Rule). The Rule estimates that the aggregate increase to Medicare home health payments for 2024 will be 0.8 percent, or $140 million. This 0.8 percent increase results from the combined effects of three forecasted rate changes: (1) a 3.0 percent increase to home health payments, (2) a 2.6 percent decrease based on the permanent behavior assumption adjustment, and (3) a 0.4 percent increase resulting from an update to the fixed-dollar loss ratio, which is used to determine outlier payments. The 0.8 percent increase is a departure from the Proposed Rule, which estimated a cut in payments of up to 3 percent.Continue Reading CMS Announces 0.8 Percent Aggregate Home Health Payment Increase in 2024
Eighteen States’ Attorneys General Send Letter to CMS in Support of Proposed Rule Requiring Disclosure of Certain Nursing Home and SNF Ownership Information
On April 14, 2023, the Attorneys General of 18 different states sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in support of a proposed rule that would require the disclosure of certain ownership information regarding Medicare skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and Medicaid nursing facilities (collectively “Nursing Facilities”), particularly from private equity investors and real estate investment trusts (the “Proposed Rule”).Continue Reading Eighteen States’ Attorneys General Send Letter to CMS in Support of Proposed Rule Requiring Disclosure of Certain Nursing Home and SNF Ownership Information
Stark Settlement Targeting Hospital and Physicians a Reminder for Health Care Organizations
On March 29, 2023, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced a notable set of three settlements (collectively, the Settlement) in excess of $69 million dollars total with a regional hospital system (Hospital) and two individual physicians, respectively.Continue Reading Stark Settlement Targeting Hospital and Physicians a Reminder for Health Care Organizations
CMS Issues Guidance for Providers on Waivers, Flexibilities and End of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
By Conor Duffy, Guest Contributor & Robinson+Cole's Health Law Group on
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a Fact Sheet (Fact Sheet) providing guidance on the impact of the end of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on certain regulatory waivers, legislative changes, and flexibilities that have been established during the PHE. The government previously announced that the PHE will expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. CMS is providing this guidance as part of efforts to ease the transition for health care providers, patients, and other industry stakeholders away from pandemic-era policies and practices tied to PHE authorities. CMS emphasizes that many of the waivers and flexibilities are or will become permanent or extended, and others are intended to end on or soon following May 11, 2023.
Below please find a summary of key guidance provided by CMS in the Fact Sheet and in related CMS PHE guidance documents issued recently:Continue Reading CMS Issues Guidance for Providers on Waivers, Flexibilities and End of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
No More Reasonable Diligence? CMS Proposes to Change Standard for Identifying Medicare Overpayments to Align with False Claims Act
By Conor Duffy & Leslie Levinson on
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
Home Health Company and Two Corporate Officers Settle False Claims Act Allegations for Over $30 Million
On October 18, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two settlements with CHC Holdings, LLC, an Oklahoma limited liability company doing business as Carter Healthcare (Carter), and two former senior corporate officers, resolving alleged violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA), Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), and Physician Self-Referral Law (commonly referred to as the “Stark Law”). One case settled claims that Carter had made improper payments to referring physicians in Oklahoma and Texas, while the other case settled claims that Carter had made false billing claims in Florida. Both matters were initiated by qui tam whistleblower complaints filed under the FCA. Carter agreed to pay more than $30 million to resolve the allegations.Continue Reading Home Health Company and Two Corporate Officers Settle False Claims Act Allegations for Over $30 Million
340B Update: District Court Rejects 2022 Payment Methodology for 340B Hospitals Following Supreme Court Win
We follow up on our previous blog post concerning the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in favor of 340B hospitals. The Supreme Court previously held that “absent a survey of hospitals’ acquisition costs, HHS may not vary the reimbursement rates for 340B hospitals” and therefore, that HHS exceeded its statutory authority by varying the 2018 and 2019 rates for 340B hospitals without first conducting such survey.Continue Reading 340B Update: District Court Rejects 2022 Payment Methodology for 340B Hospitals Following Supreme Court Win
OIG Releases Data Brief on Medicare Telehealth Program Integrity Risks During the First Year of the Pandemic
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a Data Brief summarizing the findings of a review of program integrity risks related to telehealth services reimbursed by Medicare during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (the Pandemic).[1] The OIG analyzed Medicare and Medicare Advantage claims data from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, focusing on providers that billed for telehealth services, with an emphasis on identifying providers that posed a high risk to the Medicare program.Continue Reading OIG Releases Data Brief on Medicare Telehealth Program Integrity Risks During the First Year of the Pandemic