On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed H.R. 2029, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, and the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the “Act”), into law. The $1.8 trillion measure funds the federal government through September 2016, and extends numerous federal tax credits, including the renewable energy production […]
Publications
2016 Nebraska Legislature Convenes
The Second Session of the 104th Nebraska Legislature will convene at 10:00 a.m. on January 6, 2016. In addition to the 400 to 600 new bills that legislators will introduce during the first ten days of the 2016 legislative session, the Legislature will continue to evaluate over 400 bills that […]
“Swapping” Arrangements—Now a Sword That Cuts Both Ways
On November 30, 2015, the OIG posted an announcement of a settlement agreement with a skilled nursing facility company, Regent Management Services, L.P. The settlement amounted to approximately $3.199 million in order to resolve allegations that Regent received kickbacks from various ambulance companies in exchange for referrals of Medicare and […]
OIG Study Suggests Increased HIPAA Enforcement
In September 2015, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued two studies concerning the Office for Civil Rights’ (“OCR’s”) oversight of compliance with the HIPAA rules. The first study recommends that OCR strengthen its oversight compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Standards. The second […]
2-Midnight Rule Finally Final and Effective January 1, 2016
On November 13, 2015, CMS published as a final rule its latest iteration of the 2-midnight rule, the standard for billing inpatient services under Part A of the Medicare program. As background, the 2-midnight rule was initially proposed by CMS in 2013, in response to two perceived issues: The Recovery […]