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
On June 24, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced a final rule that establishes disincentives for certain health care providers that have committed information blocking, or any activity that is likely to hamper access, exchange, or use of electronic protected health information (PHI). This rule
The New York State 2024-2025 budget includes legislation that extends until July 1, 2026 the independent practice authority for certain qualified nurse practitioners with over 3,600 practice hours.
Our prior post on this topic provides additional details on which nurse practitioners qualify to practice independently, that is, without a written practice agreement or collaborative relationship
A law that would incentivize reductions in the use of temporary staffing agencies in nursing homes awaits action by Governor Hochul, who must either sign or veto the law by December 23.
[UPDATE: Gov. Hochul signed this bill into law (S.6897/A.7328) on December 22. The Governor’s press release can be found here.]
The law
New York State and Connecticut have recently enacted laws that prohibit “geofencing” near health care facilities. The New York State law took effect on July 2, 2023, and Connecticut’s on October 1, 2023. These geofencing laws, enacted partly in response to the Supreme Court Dobbs decision (to prevent advertisers from targeting people receiving reproductive services)
The New York State Department of Health has published a webpage regarding Public Health Law (PHL) Article 45-A. In our prior post, we discussed how PHL Article 45-A requires health care entities involved in material transaction(s) to provide written notice and information to DOH at least 30 days prior to the closing of a
One of the many new provisions enacted as part of the 2023-2024 New York State Budget was an increase in the minimum wage for home care workers.
Initially, it is important to note that the $1 hourly increase in the minimum wage for home care workers in New York State, slated to take effect October
Following extended New York State budget negotiations, lawmakers have enacted a significantly modified version of Governor Hochul’s proposed health care transaction review bill, which we discussed in prior posts here and here. The bill, as originally proposed, included a comprehensive Department of Health review process, and required the Department of Health’s pre-approval to close
As previously discussed here, New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget contained a bill that, if passed, would be transformative for certain healthcare transactions. Gov. Hochul’s proposal was dropped from both one-house budgets proposed by the New York State Senate and Assembly.
While its passage appears unlikely, the final budget is now delayed past