Perspectives on Health Care

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced the creation of a new litigation team focused solely on using the OIG’s authority to impose civil monetary penalties and exclude individuals and businesses from Medicare and Medicaid.

King v. Burwell understandably took the attention of the health care industry a couple of weeks ago when it upheld a key component of the ACA. A day later, the Supreme Court released another decision that may have a more significant going-forward impact on the health care industry: Obergefell.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit released a decision requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to reconsider a 2008 rule prohibiting certain per-click leasing arrangements under the Stark Law.

Who can make healthcare decisions for an incompetent patient when there is no person available to give consent?  

Partner Lowell Brown, the leader of the Health Care Practice Group, was featured in a recent Law360 article, “Attorneys React To Supreme Court’s ACA Save.”

In the long awaited decision in King v. Burwell, the Supreme Court ruled this morning in a 6-to-3 decision that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) permits tax credits for individuals who purchase their health insurance through a Federal health insurance marketplace (Federal Exchange), not just for indivi

The US Attorney General announced a “takedown” of 243 defendants over the last three days, representing the largest health care fraud enforcement effort in the Medicare Fraud Strike Force’s eight-year history and the largest criminal health care fraud action in the history of the Justice Department.

On June 17, 2015, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) published a long-awaited proposed rule setting forth revisions to the current regulations governing the 340B Drug Discount Program (340B Program) as set forth in 42 C.F.R. part 10 (Proposed Rule).

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General issued a Fraud Alert, reminding physicians that they will be held liable under the anti-kickback statute for compensation arrangements that do not reflect fair market value compensation for bona fide services they provide.

Charitable organizations that want to provide financial assistance to patients for the costs of health care are challenged with ensuring that their programs do not run afoul of federal fraud and abuse laws.

The 2015 edition of Legal 500 US has rated 50 Arent Fox LLP attorneys as national leaders in their field. In addition, 15 of the firm’s practice areas were ranked among the best in the country.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. (Medco) agreed to pay the government $7.9 million to resolve allegations that Medco’s arrangements with pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca violated the False Claim Act.

Partner Linda Baumann was quoted extensively in Bloomberg BNA’s Health Law Resource Center’s article on the landmark False Claims Act case decided by the Supreme Court on May 26, 2015, Kellogg Brown & Root Svcs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter.

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday decided a closely watched False Claims Act (FCA) case, Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Carter, with important implications for companies confronting FCA claims.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers could face a new line of attack related to Hatch-Waxman reverse payment settlement agreements (so-called, “pay-for-delay” settlements).

The Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions recently started an investigation into whether agency “guidance” is being used as a means to impose obligations on the public while circumventing the formal rule making process. 

Health care lawyers are familiar with the term “underground rulemaking,” which refers to efforts by federal agencies to impose obligations on providers and suppliers informally, without using the processes required by law. That issue has recently attracted the attention of the US Senate. 

Linda A. Baumann was quoted extensively by Bloomberg BNA’s Health Care Fraud Report in a story following a speech by the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Leslie Caldwell, on new developments in DOJ’s handling and resolution of certain investigations.

Arent Fox LLP is proud to announce that, for the thirteenth year in a row, Health Care partner Linda A. Baumann served as editor-in-chief of a comprehensive desk reference focused on fraud and abuse for lawyers in the health care industry.

Arent Fox LLP is proud to announce the publication of a comprehensive and definitive book for health care industry leaders focused on risk management and litigation.

An Arent Fox team led by noted commercial litigator Hunter T. Carter prevailed at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Health Care Compliance Association jointly released an educational resource for governing boards.

Last week, Health Care partner Lowell C. Brown published an article in Bloomberg BNA’s Health Law Report that examines what hospital and medical staff leaders should do when a staff member is hospitalized with signs of impairment.

Peter R. Zeidenberg and Health Care partner David S. Greenberg published an article in Bloomberg BNA’s Health Care Fraud Report that examines an important decision after the Department of Justice (DOJ) successfully prosecuted Medicare fraud at Sacred Heart Hospital in Chicago.