"Nationwide Healthcare Lawyers"
(October 22, 2010): It’s not exactly breaking news to anyone in the hospital industry that the U.S. Congress and the regulators at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services seem bent on preventing or eliminating physician referrals to hospitals in which they invest. With the passage of health reform legislation in March of this year, […]
(September 14, 2010): As one of the most controversial provisions in the recently enacted health care reform legislation, Congress created the IPAB – a board that is independent from Congress and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) as a mechanism to control Medicare – and potentially all – health care expenditures.
(August 27, 2010): Additional cities will be getting Medicare fraud HEAT teams. Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder and U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius conducted the second of a planned series of “Regional Health Care Fraud Prevention Summits.” In addition to these agency heads, participants learned of current and
Additional Cities will have HEAT Teams in 2011 Read More »
(June 25, 2010): Cities have the authority, usually provided by State statute, to regulate dangerous and substandard buildings and structures. In Texas, a City has to pass an ordinance to activate its ability to regulate dangerous buildings and structures. See TEX. LOC. GVT CODE § 214 Subchapter A. Before taking action against a dangerous building,
What Can Cities Do About Dangerous Buildings? Read More »
(May 10, 2010): Inevitably a service provider, such as an IT professional or a vendor supplying coffee or coke machines, will sign a year-to-year or a 3-5 year contract with a City. Depending on the particular city, the contract may be signed by a City Officer such as the City Manager, City Administrator, or even
Contracts with Cities 101: Read More »
(May 10, 2010): Whenever a company contracts to provide construction work for a city on public property, the company should always check the state law that governs the city in regards to mechanic liens against the land where the public property is located. And the city should always make sure of what rights it has
Mechanic Liens against Public Property Read More »
(May 10, 2010): Normally there is statute of limitations that will apply to most civil lawsuits. This means that a claim must be filed in Court within a certain time after the action complained about occurred. For instance, in Texas, if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident and suffer an injury you must
City / Municipality Statute of Limitations Issues Read More »
(July 14, 2010): Imagine a Zone Program Integrity Contractor (ZPIC) handing you a claim analysis rife with alleged errors, an indecipherable list of statistical formulae, and an extrapolated recovery demand that will cripple your practice or clinic. What steps should you take to analyze their work? Based on our experience, providers can and should carefully
Don’t Take ZPIC Extrapolation Calculations at Face Value Read More »
(July 7, 2010): Earlier today, President Obama announced the recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to be the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). He was nominated on April 19, 2010. According to the White House’s press release, Dr. Berwick is a pediatrician, Harvard University professor, and President and Chief Executive
President Obama Appoints Dr. Donald Berwick as the New Head of CMS. Read More »
(July 2, 2010): The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) audit program involving Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) is now permanent and nationwide. As we discussed in Part I of this series, while small providers were largely ignored during the demonstration program, physicians, home health, hospice, and durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers should be on