On January 3, 2014, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule to expressly permit certain covered entities to disclose specific information about individuals subject to the Federal mental […]
Health Law Alert
Court Ruling Includes Important Reminders on Attorney-Client Privilege
Many providers wrongly assume that copying their lawyer on communications somehow means that the communication is automatically protected from discovery under an attorney-client privilege. A recent ruling in U.S. v. Halifax Hospital Medical Center points out that this is not always the case and includes important reminders for what is […]
OIG Advisory Opinion Provides Additional Guidance on Supplier’s/Provider’s “Usual” Charges
Much confusion surrounds the issue of whether or not a Medicare supplier or provider may charge individuals or payors other than Federal health care programs less than its usual charges. A recent OIG Advisory Opinion (AO 13-13) addresses free services offered to uninsured patients. Section 1128(b)(6)(A) of the Social […]
Update: EHR Donation Sunset Extended
At long last, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved final rules extending the sunset on the Stark exception and an Anti-Kickback safe harbor. As addressed previously in this Health Law Advisory article, both the exception and the safe harbor were scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2013. This […]
Sunset of the Stark and Anti-Kickback EHR Donation Exceptions
In 2006, CMS and the OIG promulgated a Stark exception and an Anti-Kickback safe harbor to encourage the development and adoption of interoperable electronic health record systems in communities. The exception and safe harbor allowed hospitals to donate up to 85 percent of the cost of EHR software and training […]