Tag archives: DHHS

COVID-19 Update: Highly-Impacted and Rural Hospital Distribution Imminent

By Jeff Wurzburg (US) and Frances Morgan (US) on May 3, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

On the evening of May 1, 2020, HHS announced that it will distribute an additional $22 billion in payments from the Provider Relief Fund to hospitals with high volumes of COVID-19 patients ($12 billion) and rural hospitals ($10 billion) in the coming days. Qualifying hospitals will receive funds via direct deposit and will likely be … Continue reading

Allina Update: Supreme Court holds Medicare statute requires notice and comment for DSH payment change

By Yvonne Puig (US), Thomas Dowdell (US), Frances Morgan (US) and Jeff Wurzburg (US) on June 4, 2019 Posted in News from DC

In a decision with potentially far reaching implications for Medicare hospital reimbursement, on June 3 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) in Azar v. Allina Health Services. The Court affirmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision that vacated a rate calculation … Continue reading

Maine court hears argument on Medicaid expansion

By Jeff Wurzburg (US) on May 29, 2018 Posted in News from DC

Maine Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy heard arguments on May 24, 2018 about whether Governor Paul LePage must take steps to expand Medicaid in Maine. In April, a group of residents and advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit against Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for failing to expand Medicaid following the November 2017 … Continue reading

Recent effort to regulate pharmaceutical pricing deemed unconstitutional by Fourth Circuit

By Robin Adelstein (US) on April 17, 2018 Posted in Enforcement, FDA & Food Safety, News from DC, Regulatory

In the absence of federal action, states have attempted to rein in high pharmaceutical pricing by enacting laws aimed at regulating drug pricing. Following what now has become a trend, on March 13, 2018, Oregon became the newest state to enact such legislation, The Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act, H.B. 4005. But many of these … Continue reading

Budget Act codifies Stark liberalizations

By Thomas Dowdell (US) and Joseph Keillor (US) on February 20, 2018 Posted in News from DC, Regulatory

As we previously reported, on February 9, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives approved the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Act”) and President Trump subsequently signed the bill into law. Section 50404 of the Act includes several amendments to the Stark Law. Specifically, Section 50404 endorses recent liberalizations of the Stark Law requirements … Continue reading