Grace Period Included in the Affordable Care Act Could Pose Financial Risk to Healthcare Professionals and Providers
By Michael L. Smith, R.R.T., J.D., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law, and George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law A little known rule published by CMS to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could pose a significant financial risk for doctors, hospitals […]
Verifying Patients’ Affordable Care Act Exchange Insurance is Putting Doctors’ Office Employees Through the Ringer
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The ultimate goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to provide millions of previously uninsured Americans with access to health care. Open enrollment does not end until March 31, 2014; however, practices are already seeing an influx […]
OIG Audit Finds Federal Database of Terminated Medicaid Providers Needs Improvement
By Lenis L. Archer, J.D., M.P.H., The Health Law Firm The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish a process for sharing information about terminated Medicaid providers. The federal database, called Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program State Information Sharing System (MCSIS), is designed to prevent terminated […]
CMS in the Hot Seat for Lax Oversight of Medicaid Managed Care Organizations
By Lenis L. Archer, J.D., M.P.H., The Health Law Firm For years, each state has kept an eye on its own Medicaid managed care plans, while the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to monitor how well each individual state is doing. However, a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report claims CMS […]
Federal Health Officials Propose Medicare Paying Doctors to Discuss End-of-Life Issues
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new plan for doctors to discuss end-of-life issues with their patients. The plan is part of the CMS annual Medicare physician payment rule. This comes six years after […]
Department of Health and Human Services Announces Mental Health Parity Final Rule
By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm On November 8, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the promulgation of the agency’s final rule related to parity of coverage of mental health and substance use treatment. According to Sebelius: “For way too long, the healthcare system […]