Health Law Alert

On April 8, 2014, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an Advisory Opinion disapproving a proposed fee structure in an electronic laboratory ordering arrangement. On the same day the OIG took the unusual step of withdrawing a prior 2011 favorable Advisory Opinion that had approved a fee structure with […]

Via Medicare Learning Network (MLN) article, CMS announced its implementation of finger-print based background checks as part of the Heightened Medicare Enrollment Standards set out in Section 640 of the Affordable Care Act. (See MLN Matter Number SE1417.) The more intensive screening will be phased in during 2014. When fully […]

A patent is a property right granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. An owner of a U.S. patent (e.g., an inventor of the invention covered by the patent) may exclude others from making or selling the invention in the United States for a limited period of time. […]

On March 7, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it reached a settlement with Skagit County, Washington over potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Skagit County agreed to pay $215,000 and enter into a […]

On January 22, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska granted a motion for summary judgment by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), upholding an extrapolation from a statistical sampling of claims for chiropractic services, to recover $37,580 in Medicare overpayments.   Wisconsin Physician […]