The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has intensified its scrutiny of health care markets by establishing a dedicated task force: the Task Force on Health Care Monopolies and Collusion.
The risks go beyond a suit for an injunction. The Antitrust Division has been coordinating with False Claims Act prosecutors who have sought…
The Internal Revenue Service has released Rev. Proc. 2024-25 announcing the inflation-adjusted limits for high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) in 2025. The updated 2025 limits are as follows:
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More than three years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, many healthcare institutions continue to have difficulty fully staffing all their facilities. In response, both the Oregon and Washington legislatures enacted new laws that will change how hospitals plan for and staff their facilities. While both states will send shockwaves throughout their hospitals, the approaches differ…
On May 10, 2023, the Oregon Health Authority (“OHA”) announced that, effective May 11, it is suspending the statewide rule requiring that health care workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they have an approved medical or religious exception. The news coincides with the end of the federal public health emergency on May 11, along…
Long before enactment of HIPAA, substance use disorder (“SUD”) treatment records have enjoyed confidentiality protections under 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (“Part 2”). Since HIPAA/HITECH and related regulations went into effect, SUD treatment providers that are subject to Part 2 (“Part 2 programs”) have struggled to make sense of the inconsistencies between Part 2 and HIPAA.…
High deductible health plan (“HDHP”) sponsors take note: the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2023 (“CAA23”) temporarily extends the flexibility for HDHPs to provide pre-deductible coverage of telehealth services without affecting the ability to contribute to a HDHP participant’s Health Savings Account (“HSA”).
As we discussed, due to relief first provided in the CARES Act and…
As a result of a new rule published on February 1, 2023, at 88 Fed. Reg. 6643, Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations soon will be facing enhanced exposure from Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) audits. Under the new rule, effective for audits of payment years 2018 and after, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will…
Any provider who participates in the Medicaid program knows that it risks committing fraud if it bills twice for the same service. Unfortunately, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) that are also Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have been incorrectly advised by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid & Services (CMS) to do just that. …
Many health care entities took a “set it and forget it” approach to their CQIPs once the CQIPs were approved by DOH under regulations adopted in 2006. Beginning tomorrow, such entities will need to reconsider their approach. DOH has published significant changes to its regulations regarding approval of CQIPs that are operated by health care…
Stoel Rives recently continued its long-time sponsorship of the Portland Business Journal Health Care of the Future awards. A special publication for the awards includes a collaboration by Stoel Rives’ attorneys Todd Hanchett, Tim Hatfield, Kelly Knivila and Sarah Oyer on an article addressing four current trends in health care. Topics covered include behavioral health…
