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Jeffrey Ehrhardt

New workplace safety mandates are on the horizon for certain New York healthcare providers. Under recently enacted Public Health Law section 2832, covered facilities – defined as general hospitals and nursing homes – must establish workplace violence prevention programs by September 18, 2027. In addition, general hospitals must conduct annual workplace safety and security assessments

Health care providers may want to offer free or discounted services to help patients, and that instinct may be good. Most providers, however, don’t think of “free care” as a kickback issue in the same way they might think about gifts or rewards as a kickback issue. They should, because the Office of Inspector General

Noncompete agreements remain in the Federal Trade Commission’s crosshairs. Although the FTC abandoned its pursuit of a nationwide ban, targeted enforcement is here, and the healthcare industry specifically has been placed on notice.

The Background

On September 5, 2025, the FTC announced it was walking away from its proposed national ban on noncompetes. However, in

This week, Governor Hochul announced a proposal significantly expanding state scrutiny over corporate health care transactions. This proposal reiterates previously expressed concerns that both private equity and health system acquisitions of medical and dental practices lead to reduced access to care, declining quality and higher prices.

While stopping short of requiring actual Health Department

Just last week, we reported that the 2025/26 NYS Budget Bill did not include a provision that would have increased the requirements for seeking Department of Health (DOH) approval of a material healthcare transaction (which generally means one that increases revenues from healthcare services by at least $25 million) [here]. We have previously

We recently wrote about proposed legislation that would have substantially increased the existing reporting requirements for material healthcare transactions in NYS that have existed since Public Health Law (PHL) Article 45-A was enacted two years ago. We provided a detailed review of the current PHL 45-A here and here.

The proposed legislation would have

Overview

We recently discussed increasing state regulation of healthcare mergers and acquisitions in the face of the current Administration’s clear policy of federal deregulation. We noted that 15 states had implemented oversight laws for healthcare transactions. The stated purpose of these laws is to address two key issues: (1) to ensure that healthcare providers remain

On November 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released the “Nursing Facility ICPG,” an industry-specific compliance program guidance for nursing facilities. 

Background

The Nursing Facility ICPG serves as a voluntary, nonbinding tool to assist facilities in reducing risks related to fraud, waste, and abuse, while

On October 9, 2024, the United States Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment alleging that eight defendants defrauded Medicaid of approximately $68 million.1 The alleged scheme involved two adult day care programs and a home care financial intermediary, all owned and controlled by the same individuals, as well