PEER REVIEW LITIGATION REQUIRES PRIOR
EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES
The Colorado Supreme Court decided that physicians must exhaust administrative remedies before seeking injunctive relief or monetary damages in court; in the case of Crow vs. Penrose-St. Francis Health Care System, the Court stated:
“Because the governing board has yet to reach its final decision…
Can Medicare Premiums for the Account Holder’s 65 Year Old Spouse be Reimbursed from an HSA?
By: Joni Landy, Esq.
In general, the law prohibits distributions from an HSA for health insurance premiums. There are several exceptions. The only exception that can apply to Medicare premiums is the exception that allows for payment of health insurance (other than a Medicare supplemental policy) in the case of an account holder who has reached age 65 (the "65 Exception"). Continue Reading Health Savings Account Sticky Issue
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its fiscal year 2008 Work Plan, identifying investigation projects for the coming fiscal year relating to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Following is a copy of pages 3 through 13 of the 2008 OIG Work Plan, which identify the investigation projects for hospitals and physicians.Continue Reading OIG Issues 2008 Work Plan
Tucker Arensberg is proud to announce that immigration attorneys, Kenneth M. Ventresca and Lisa M. Ventresca have joined the firm as Of Counsel Attorneys to assist our health care, corporate, technology and higher education clients with a full range of immigration issues.
Continue Reading Tucker Arensberg Introduces Immigration Law Practice Area
ORLANDO SENTINEL REPORTS
HOSPITALS HIRING MORE PHYSICIANS
The Orlando Sentinel published a recent article indicating that hospitals are increasing their direct employment of physicians, citing statistics from national physician recruiters about the increase in recruiting arrangements, and opining that one of the biggest reasons for this national trend is that “physicians are sick of the…
MORE STARK III CHANGES:
PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT
There have been a number of definitional or technical changes to the physician recruitment exception.
· The definition of the hospital’s geographic service area, which was previously the area composed of these contiguous zip codes from which the hospital drew 75% of its inpatients, has been tweaked to…
As published on the U.S. Department of State web site, Applications for the 2009 Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery will be accepted between noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Wednesday, October 3, 2007 and noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5) Sunday, December 2, 2007.
Click on U.S. Department of State to learn more about the program.
CMS ISSUES STARK ADVISORY OPINION PROHIBITING
AMENDMENT OF RECRUITMENT AGREEMENT
On October 3, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Advisory Opinion CMS – AO – 2007 – 01 denying permission to the hospital and physician to revise a physician recruitment agreement. The proposed amendment would have deleted and “excess receipts provision, which…
The new Joint Commission Medical Staff standards (MS.1.20) are creating significant turmoil within the healthcare industry. Below is a BNA Report regarding the American Health Lawyers Association teleconference on the issue, in which Mike Cassidy, one of Tucker’s Pennsylvania healthcare attorneys, was a presenter:
Revised Joint Commission Standards for Medical Staff Operations Roil Industry
OIG ADVISORY OPINION 07-10 APPROVES CALL PAY
On September 27, 2007, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services posted OIG Advisory Opinion No. 07-10 which approves a tax exempt hospital proposal for compensating physicians for on call coverage. While acknowledging that on call compensation potentially creates considerable risk that…
