The 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule adds an additional requirement to the in-office ancillary services exception of the Stark Rules. New Section 411.355(b)(7) requires that providers of MRI, CT and PET services must provide a written notice to the patient at the time of the referral, advising that the patient may receive the same services from…

As they do every year, the Internal Revenue Service released the dollar limits that apply to qualified retirement plans. There are three separate charts below that list the limits for 2011. The three charts are separated to identify the limits for: (1) defined contribution plans, (2) defined benefit plans, and (3) both defined contribution and defined benefit…

In Genchi v. Lower Florida Keys Hospital District, a Florida State Appeals Court took the opposite view from the Arkansas Supreme Court in Baptist Health, posted just last week, regarding the importance of preserving physician/patient relationships.

In Baptist Health, the Arkansas Supreme Court recognized the potential interference with physician patient relationships posed by…

After years of litigation and appeals, the Arkansas Supreme Court has finally decided in Baptist Health v. Murphy that the economic credentialing policy tortiously interfered with the physician/patient relationships of a group of its staff cardiologists and enjoined Baptist Health from using its economic credentialing policy to deny staff appointments and clinical privileges to 12…

Contributed by Jo-Anne Mineweaser

jmineweaser@tuckerlaw.com, 412.594.3920

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires employers to report the aggregate cost of healthcare coverage provided to their employees on Form W-2.  The aggregate cost is to be determined in the same way that the “applicable premium” is determined under the COBRA rules.   This requirement…

This symposium, sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, is taking place at Penn Law School in Philadelphia from Oct. 28-30. There is no cost to attend, but registration is requested in advance.  There is up to 12.5 hours of CLE credit available for this seminar.

For more information or to register, please click here.

The Department of Justice has filed a civil anti-trust lawsuit against BlueCross/Blue Shield of Michigan alleging that the Most Favored Nations’ Clause (MFN) in their hospital contracts prevent other insurers from entering the market place and discourage discounts, resulting in higher prices for Michigan health care consumers. The state of Michigan has joined the lawsuit. MFNs generally…

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued new proposed fraud and abuse rules in accordance with requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — first known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). 

Section 6501(a) of ACA added Social Security section 1866(j), and required CMS to establish screening procedures for…

The case of Wood v. Archbold Medical Center Inc., presents an interesting twist regarding HCQIA immunity. The holding basically provides that “professional review activity” is a lesser level of adverse activity and need not meet the due process standards of HCQIA in order for a hospital to retain HCQIA.

In Dr. Wood’s situation, there were…

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