Michael Cassidy has been recognized again in the 30th edition of the Best Lawyers in America for his “exceptional work in healthcare law”.
CMS Halts “No Surprises Act” Arbitration
CMS has halted the arbitration process for “Surprise Billing” established by the “No Surprises Act” for the second time, stating as follows:
UNPLANNED OUTAGE
“On August 3, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a judgment and order in Texas Medical Association, et al. v. United States Department of Health
2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
- An additional add-on code (G2211) to existing evaluation and management visits for complex patients to better recognize the resource costs
- A delay
Private Equity: Investigation and Enforcement
Since the private equity issue was last addressed in the Bulletin in the Summer of 2022, the volume of healthcare private equity deals has subsided somewhat, according to statistics presented at the March 2023 Pennsylvania Bar Institute Health Law Conference, and that has generally been attributed to unfavorable market conditions affecting investments of all types.
DEA Proposes Permanent Telemedicine Flexibilities
On February 24, 2023, the DEA announced “Proposed Permanent Rules” for the prescribing of controlled medications on a telemedicine or telehealth basis.
Attached are:
A summary will follow later this week.
FTC Proposes a Rule to Prohibit Non-Compete Agreements
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took a dramatic step by proposing a new rule that would prohibit companies from entering into non-compete agreements with its workers. The proposed rule, if approved, takes sweeping action to prohibit employers from entering into non-compete agreements with both employees and independent contractors. And the proposed
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Reductions Partially Offset
The final “2023 Omnibus Bill” which is the spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Biden at the end of 2022, provides partial relief from the scheduled Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Conversion Factor cuts.
As previously reported, the changes to the Medicare Physician Schedule Conversion Factor would have reduced physician reimbursement by 4.5%.
Reforming Prior Authorization Process: Federal and Pennsylvania
Both the federal government and the Pennsylvania state government are taking steps to reform the prior authorization process. Take a look at the Pennsylvania Insurance Department press release that was issued November 3, 2022, touting the passage and signing of Pennsylvania Act 146, which is described as creating a new and more effective process for
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule Summary: CY 2023
Please click the link to view the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule Summary for 2023.
Telemedicine Special Fraud Alert
The US Office of Inspector General (OIG) released another in a series of Special Fraud Alerts on July 20, 2022, this one directed to potentially fraudulent telehealth, telemedicine, and telemarketing service fraud schemes, collectively referred to as “Telemedicine Companies”. The alert is based upon OIG’s perception that these Telemedicine Companies are engaged in schemes to