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Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision holding that the aggravated identity theft statute –and its mandatory minimum of two years – is not triggered merely because someone else’s identification facilitates or furthers the offense in some way. See Dubin v. United States. We have seen a growing trend of the government adding aggravated identity theft in healthcare fraud cases. As a result of this decision, we may see that statute far less.…

Continue Reading Is this “Good-Bye” to the Two Year Mandatory Minimum in Healthcare Fraud Cases?

On October 9, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) released proposed rules in conjunction with HHS’ “Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care.” The Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care “aims to remove potential regulatory barriers to care coordination and value-based care created by four key Federal health care laws and associated regulations: (1) the physician self-referral law [(“Stark Law”)]; (2) the anti-kickback statute [(“AKS”)]; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 [(“HIPAA”)]; and (4) the rules… related to opioid and substance use disorder treatment.”…
Continue Reading CMS and OIG Propose Regulatory Changes Impacting the Scope of the Stark Law and the Federal Health Care Program Anti-Kickback Statute

On September 5, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a final rule with comment period entitled, “Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process” (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule, aiming to “address various program integrity issues and vulnerabilities by enabling CMS to take action against unqualified and potentially fraudulent entities and individuals,” significantly expands CMS’ ability to deny or revoke the Medicare enrollment of providers (e.g., hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, etc.) and suppliers (e.g., physicians, therapists, ambulance services, durable medical equipment suppliers, etc.) in ways that may create concerns even for providers and suppliers who are fully qualified and have not engaged in any fraudulent conduct.
Continue Reading CMS Finalizes Rule Expanding its Authority to Deny and Revoke Medicare Program Enrollment, Among Other Changes