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It seems that electronic health records (EHRs) are constantly being touted as the next best way to improve both healthcare quality and medical practice profitability, but adoption of EHRs by physician practices continues to languish. The range for provider adoptions in small and solo practitioners’ offices, as determined by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is somewhere…

The Tax Relief and  Health Care Act of 2006 contains provisions to improve health savings accounts (HSAs):

1.         HSA Funding Contributions: The Act allows rollover contributions from flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) into HSAs as long as the contributions are no more than the balance of those accounts as of…

Henry Butler, M.D. asks what the PA  MCARE report means in laymen’s language. Although the surchaerges are decreasing, the unfunded liability is $2.33 and rising!  Physician migration from PA  appears to have remain unchanged during the program. PA desires to end the program and encourage privitization of the excess or second layer of covergage. Worthy…

The Pennsylvania Commission on the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund (MCARE Fund) was created in December of 2005 for the purpose of investigating methods to reduce the unfunded liability of the MCARE Fund and the phasing out of the MCARE Program. The MCARE Program was created by Act 13 of 2002 to replace…

On October 27, 2006, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell signed Senate Bill 972, extending the MCARE malpractice subsidy through 2007. Physicians who are eligible for 100% abatement of their assessments are surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, obstetricians, emergency physicians, rural doctors who routinely deliver babies, certified nurse-midwives, and nursing homes. All other physicians and podiatrists are eligible for an…

Restrictive covenants are often the most complicated clauses in a physician employment contract.  Medical practices and their lawyers are constantly striving to make these non-competition agreements more protective, more comprehensive and more enforceable.  Sometimes this "more is better" approach backfires!
Continue Reading Should You Have A Liquidated Damages Provision as Part of Your Restrictive Covenant?

The release of the August 2006 inflation figures has allowed calculation of the 2007 financial limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), according to a press release from HSA Clearing Corporation.

§      The maximum HSA contribution (excluding catch-up contributions) will be $2,850 for individual coverage and $5,650 for family coverage.

§      The minimum deductible…

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) offer a unique and perhaps unintended opportunity to create tax-favored savings vehicles similar to IRAs.  HSAs were established by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 with the intention of encouraging consumer-directed healthcare and providing an alternative source for health insurance coverage. The concept pairs HSAs with High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs). Individuals and families who are covered by HDHPs and are not covered by other health insurance plans are permitted to fund HSAs as a means of financing the deductible portion of the HDHP. Continue Reading HSAs: A Real Alternative to Traditional Health Insurance

The Pennsylvania Legislature enacted the Health Savings Account Act (the "HSA Act") 72 P.S. §§3402b.1-3402b.6, on July 14, 2005, to be effective sixty days thereafter. As enacted, Section 4 of the HSA Act did not provide an exclusion from Pennsylvania tax for contributions by employers and employees to health savings account plans. Accordingly, there were not deductions…

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Tucker Arensberg’s Healthcare Practice Group includes some of the most experienced health law attorneys in the region. We handle the legal problems so our clients can handle the important work of caring for patients. We work with physicians, physical therapists, dentists, optometrists, and all other professional care givers to help them avoid the many legal traps of running a practice. Tucker Arensberg lawyers have experience in all major health law issues.