A personal message from Mike Cassidy on his retirement.
2025 Medicare Final Rule Highlights
Attorneys Mike Cassidy and Adam Appleberry co-authored an insightful article, 2025 Medicare Final Rule Highlights, featured in the December 2024 issue of the Allegheny County Medical Society (ACMS) Bulletin. The article explores the key updates to Medicare regulations and their implications for healthcare providers.
Click here to access the ACMS Bulletin to read
Federal and Pennsylvania Corporate Reporting Requirements: Subject to Nationwide Injunction
This is a last in a series of client alerts and blog posts we’ve issued over the last year designed to inform you of the new Federal and Pennsylvania corporate reporting obligations.
ALERT: The U.S. District Court E.D. Texas has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the reporting rules below.
Federal
The financial
Medicare Telehealth Reimbursement Update
Our Introduction to Telehealth, Technology and Federal Enforcement chapter was published in the Thomson Reuters 2025 Health Law Handbook. It reviewed a number of telehealth Medicare revisions, both permanent and temporary, enacted by a series of consolidated appropriation acts and physician fee schedule amendments arising out of the 2020 COVID pandemic.
The temporary telehealth
Medicare Decreases Physician Fee Schedule by 2.93%
The final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule was issued on November 1st for calendar year 2025. Attached is a link to both the Press Release describing all of the Medicare changes and the link to the entire Final Rule.
The Medicare Conversion Factor for the Physician Fee Schedule was decreased from $33.29 from 2024
Telehealth News
Mike Cassidy and Adam Appleberry have had a chapter published in the Thomson Reuters Health Law Handbook: “Introduction to Telehealth, Technology, and Federal Enforcement”.
Medicare Proposed 2025 Telehealth Changes
CMS proposed several telehealth changes in the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule, issued July 10, 2024.
Interactive Telecommunication
Beginning January 1, 2025, an interactive telecommunication system may include two-way, real-time audio-only communication technology for any telehealth service furnished to a beneficiary in their home, if the distant site physician or practitioner is technically
Medicare Proposes 2.8% Physician Fee Schedule Reduction
Click here for the CMS Announcement on July 10, 2024 proposing a reduction in the Medicare Conversion Factor payment from $33.29 to $32.36, i.e. 2.8%
There are a host of other changes in the 24 page Release, which we will address in due course.
UPMC/Washington Health System Merger Agreement Limits Non-Competes
The Press has announced that the Merger Agreement between UPMC and Washington Health System was approved by the Pennsylvania Attorney General with certain conditions, one of which was that UPMC would honor existing employment contracts and not impose restrictive covenants or non-compete agreements more restrictive than those that currently exist.
We will be researching that
Businesses Challenge FTC’s Ban on Non-Compete Agreements
As expected, businesses have sued the FTC challenging the recent final rule that ends non-compete agreements, as reported by the Wall Street Journal Wednesday morning (read WSJ article here). The U.S. Chamber of Commerce challenged the final rule in federal court in East Texas, which has been joined by other business groups. A lawsuit