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…
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…
Mike Cassidy and Adam Appleberry have had a chapter published in the Thomson Reuters Health Law Handbook: “Introduction to Telehealth, Technology, and Federal Enforcement”.
In a continuation of the saga surrounding the FTC’s ban on non-compete agreements for for-profit businesses, on August 20, 2024, a ruling from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas struck down the FTC’s final rule. In the Texas court’s ruling, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown stated that the FTC’s authority…
On July 17, 2024, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed the Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act into law, which will become effective as of January 1, 2025 (click here see the full bill). Any noncompete covenants that are greater than one year in length in an employment agreement for a healthcare provider, entered into…
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…
Challenges to the FTC Rule
As we previously discussed on Med Law Blog, following the FTC’s approval of the final rule to ban non-compete agreements for for-profit businesses in April, several businesses have challenged the FTC’s authority to enforce this rule. The final rule is set to take effect on September 4, 2024, but in…
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.
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…
In light of the ongoing investigation of Change Healthcare’s ransomware attack that resulted in the improper disclosure of thousands of individuals’ PHI, now seems like a perfect time to discuss HIPAA’s requirements surrounding the notification process following a breach. Whether it’s a small breach where someone in your organization accidentally sent a patient’s contact information…
