HCQIA IMMUNITY DENIED FOR

HOSPITAL VIOLATIONS OF DUE PROCESS

In the case of Wilkey vs. The McCullough – Hyde Memorial Hospital , the United States District for the Southern District of Ohio denied the hospital’s request for summary judgment based upon immunity under the Health Care Quality Improvement Act because the hospital allegedly used an…

For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 01, 2007
Contact: CMS Office of Public Affairs
202-690-6145

MEDICARE FINAL RULE ANNOUNCES 2008 PHYSICIAN FEES AND REFORMS FOR ACCURATE PAYMENTS AND QUALITY

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a final physician payment rule designed to improve accuracy of Medicare payments and give physicians and health

…

2008 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=2585&intNumPerPage=10&checkDate=&checkKey=&srchType=1&numDays=3500&srchOpt=0&srchData=&srchOpt=0&srchData=&keywordType=All&chkNewsType=1%2C+2%2C+3%2C+4%2C+5&intPage=&showAll=&pYear=&year=&desc=&cboOrder=date

CMS has published the 2008 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule . The link to the press release and embedded links follows.

PEER REVIEW LITIGATION REQUIRES PRIOR

EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES 

The Colorado Supreme Court decided that physicians must exhaust administrative remedies before seeking injunctive relief or monetary damages in court; in the case of Crow vs. Penrose-St. Francis Health Care System, the Court stated:

“Because the governing board has yet to reach its final decision…

Can Medicare Premiums for the Account Holder’s 65 Year Old Spouse be Reimbursed from an HSA?

By: Joni Landy, Esq.  

In general, the law prohibits distributions from an HSA for health insurance premiums. There are several exceptions. The only exception that can apply to Medicare premiums is the exception that allows for payment of health insurance (other than a Medicare supplemental policy) in the case of an account holder who has reached age 65 (the "65 Exception").  Continue Reading Health Savings Account Sticky Issue

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its fiscal year 2008 Work Plan, identifying investigation projects for the coming fiscal year relating to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Following is a copy of pages 3 through 13 of the 2008 OIG Work Plan, which identify the investigation projects for hospitals and physicians.Continue Reading OIG Issues 2008 Work Plan

Tucker Arensberg is proud to announce that immigration attorneys, Kenneth M. Ventresca and Lisa M. Ventresca have joined the firm as Of Counsel Attorneys to assist our health care, corporate, technology and higher education clients with a full range of immigration issues.
Continue Reading Tucker Arensberg Introduces Immigration Law Practice Area

ORLANDO SENTINEL REPORTS

HOSPITALS HIRING MORE PHYSICIANS

The Orlando Sentinel  published a recent article indicating that hospitals are increasing their direct employment of physicians, citing statistics from national physician recruiters about the increase in recruiting arrangements, and opining that one of the biggest reasons for this national trend is that “physicians are sick of the…

MORE STARK III CHANGES:

PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT

There have been a number of definitional or technical changes to the physician recruitment exception.

·        The definition of the hospital’s geographic service area, which was previously the area composed of these contiguous zip codes from which the hospital drew 75% of its inpatients, has been tweaked to…

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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.