Health Law Alert

On November 16, 2017, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted Advisory Opinion 17-06 discussing whether a Medicare Supplemental Health Insurance (Medigap) provider could (1) indirectly contract with a preferred hospital network to discount or eliminate Medicare Part A deductibles for its policyholders, and (2) provide policyholders with a $100 […]

Earlier this year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Nebraska Hospital Medical Liability Act (“Act”). Specifically, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s reduction of the plaintiff’s damages, awarded by the jury, from $17 million dollars to the Act’s statutory limit–$1.75 […]

A variety of situations raise the question of whether or not a hospital or other licensed health care facility has an obligation to report an individual licensee’s improper behavior, act or omission to the licensee’s state board. Often, it is assumed that what may be a reportable event by an […]

Preventing financial misconduct in the health care industry has long been a major focus of federal law enforcement. The Trump administration recently affirmed its commitment to maintaining that priority. A September federal court decision indicates that the Department of Justice may even be expanding its prosecutions to reach health care […]

After the well-publicized CMS enforcement action against St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena, Montana, in October, 2015, there was substantial confusion within the hospital industry about the effect of leasing licensed hospital space to private physicians for the purpose of periodic outreach clinics. In the case of St. Peter’s, the hospital […]