The Pennsylvania legislature has enacted the attached law, called the "Prohibition of Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act," that is expected to be signed by Governor Rendell. The law prohibits hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and long-term care providers from requiring nurses and other clinical-care workers to work overtime. This ban excludes doctors, physician assistants, and…

On October 6, 2008 CMS announced its intent to aggressively enhance its efforts to find and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare. In particular, CMS indicated that it intends to work directly with beneficiaries to insure that they are properly receiving the durable medical equipment and home health services for which Medicare was billed and…

 The Wall Street Journal published an insightful article on Special Needs Planning in its Family Finances Section on October 9, 2008."An Estate Plan Built for Special Needs" highlights the emotional and financial challenges facing parents with special needs children and commonly employed planning methods. Special Needs Planning  and Special Needs Trusts are not…

This page is dedicated to the Form A Filings for
Highmark, Inc. and Independence Blue Cross.

On Friday, April 27, 2007, the Insurance Department received two transactional filings, known as Form A filings, for the acquisition of Highmark, Inc. and Independence Blue Cross Pennsylvania domestic insurance company subsidiaries by NEWCO, a yet to be

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") recently entered into a Resolution Agreement with Providence Health & Services ("Providence") of Seattle to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") Privacy and Security Rules. Under the Resolution Agreement, Providence agrees to pay $100,000 and implement a corrective…

On September 26, 2008, President Bush signed into law the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 ("ADAAA"). The ADAAA are a significant change to the ADA, designed to reverse rulings handed down by the courts that Congress believed had limited the ADA in ways that were not intended when that landmark legislation was passed.

Perhaps the most…

Cases denying hospitals’ summary judgment motions based upon the Health Care Quality Improvement Act (HCQIA) immunity are rare. Stratienko v. Chattanooga-HamiltonCountyHospital Authority (full text opinion below) is one of the exceptions in which the physician not only defeated the motion for summary judgment, but also obtained an injunction against the summary suspension. 

The …

The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights recently issued helpful guidance for health care providers relative to communicating with a patient’s family, friends or others involved in the patient’s care. The guidance contains a number of commonly asked HIPAA questions as well as a helpful chart relative to disclosures. This…

Michael Cassidy has been included by his peers in the Health Care Law category in The Best Lawyers in America 2009. Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession, and has been compiling a list of best lawyers for 25 years. Best Lawyers is widely regarded within…

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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.