Perspectives on Health Care

Health Care Partner Hillary Stemple presented to eye and vision care providers about co-management compliance at the Kentucky Optometric Association’s Annual Meeting on April 21.

- CMS estimates its proposal will result in a decrease of $320 million in Medicare Part A payments to skilled nursing facilities.
- CMS is seeking stakeholder input on the effects of direct-care staffing requirements for long-term care facilities.

Health Care Partner Anne Murphy will present to CCI Inc.’s national health care CFO member group about governance best practices on April 14.

Health Care Partner Anne Murphy gave a presentation about board governance to health system board members and senior executives at The Governance Institute’s April Leadership Conference.

Centre Partners, a private equity firm specializing in the healthcare and consumer industries, engaged ArentFox Schiff to represent physician-owners and management in the sale of Vision Innovation Partners.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed the Northern District of California’s landmark decision against UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s behavioral health unit, United Behavioral Health (“UBH”), under which UBH had been ordered to reprocess tens of thousands of behavioral health claims.

On February 22, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced that vaccinated health care workers with documented recent infection will be allowed to defer booster shot by up to 90 days from infection.

Health Care Partner Stephanie Trunk is presenting at the Healthcare Distribution Alliance’s 2022 Distribution Management Conference on March 8.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, hospitals and other health care providers are facing a separate challenge: “Ivermania”—the wave of lawsuits filed against hospitals by guardians of COVID-19 patients seeking court orders compelling the administration of Ivermectin.

On February 23, 2022, in what is being heralded as a significant victory for health care providers, a federal court in Texas vacated portions of the Biden Administration’s rules governing the arbitration procedures to resolve surprise billing disputes under the federal No Surprises Act (the Act).

On March 3, starting at 10:00 am EST, the FCC’s Connect2Health Task Force (Task Force) will host a virtual event titled: “The FCC Digital Health Symposium: Advancing Broadband Connectivity as a Social Determinant of Health.”

The FCC is requesting public comment on proposed reforms to the Rural Health Care Program to “promote program efficiency and ensure that rural healthcare providers receive appropriate levels of funding.”

Back in 2017, the state of Nevada passed a sweeping bill into law that addressed not only drug pricing transparency, but also reporting obligations applicable to pharmacy benefit managers and non-profit organizations and also imposed certain requirements on manufacturer sales forces.

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In December, the Supreme Court requested that U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar file a brief in John Doe 1 v. Express Scripts Inc., weighing in on whether the Court should hear a case about prescription drug costs.

The “core mission” of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure that the health care providers who care for Medicare and Medicaid patients protect their patients’ health and safety gives the agency broad authority to regulate the conduct and operations of participating providers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the proposed Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs (the Proposed Rule) on January 12, 2022, in the Federal Register.

On January 14, 2022, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, renewed the declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) that was first declared on January 20, 2020. 

Since prescription opioids were first introduced for pain treatment in the 1990s, the number of drug overdose deaths has quadrupled, and more than a half million Americans have died from an overdose involving an opioid.

Under legislation signed on December 31 by Governor Kathy Hochul, (S.3762/A. 1396; L2021, ch. 828), all pharmacy benefit managers operating in New York State will be required to register with the State Department of Financial Services (DFS) by April 1, 2022, and thereafter to be licensed.

Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries

Beginning January 1, 2022, all state licensed or certified health care facilities and providers must follow extensive rules for providing a “good faith estimate” of health care charges to uninsured and self-pay patients prior to the provision of health care services. 

The US Supreme Court heard oral argument to decide a circuit split and determine what ERISA requires of ERISA-governed pension plan fiduciaries with respect to investment fees and recordkeeping. A decision is expected in the first half of 2022.

Arent Fox is pleased to announce the continued expansion of its Real Estate practice with the addition of Partner Robert B. Koonin and Associates Darius E. Niknamfard and Cindy Thomas. 

The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management issued this Fall their second long-awaited interim final rule implementing the federal No Surprises Act (the “Act”), titled “Requirements Related to Surprise Billing; Part II.” As the end of the