Illinois lawmakers have passed legislation that would allow patients to shield information about abortion services and gender dysphoria diagnoses from portions of their digital medical records. The Reproductive Health Privacy Act was passed by the Senate on May 30 and…
Legal & Regulatory Issues
Hundreds of hospitals use AI tools to identify drug diversion in their respective facilities, but a recent case at a Tennessee hospital highlights some of the shortcomings of this system, CBS News reported June 1. Here are four things to…
Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare, accusing the insurer of retaining more than $100 million in fraudulent Medicaid payments. The May 29 complaint, filed in a state court, focuses on UnitedHealthcare’s role as a contractor for “Senior Care Options,” a state program…
Tampa, Fla.-based Oglethorpe — an operator of psychiatric hospitals — and three of its executives agreed to pay $32 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act by failing to return Medicare overpayments tied to psychiatric admissions at three Ohio…
The Federal Trade Commission is sharpening its focus on healthcare under the Trump administration, signaling increased scrutiny of hospital consolidation, certificate-of-need laws and other policies the agency has said may limit competition and drive up costs. FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson…
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The Trump administration has finalized an overhaul of the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution process, establishing a centralized disputes gateway, creating a new federal payer registry, and reducing administrative fees. The final rule, issued jointly by HHS, the Labor…
In a lawsuit filed May 25, Sunil Hingorani, MD, PhD, director of Omaha-based University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence, accused UNMC and Nebraska Medicine of racial discrimination and retaliation. Here are five things to know regarding…
The American Hospital Association has urged the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to exempt hospital mergers from proposed changes to premerger notification requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. In a May 26 letter to the federal regulators, the…
The Justice Department charged 15 people in Minnesota in connection with alleged fraud schemes involving more than $90 million. According to a May 21 news release from the department, the action included two of the largest Medicaid fraud cases charged…
A federal judge has sided with the Justice Department in its bid to depose a former senior executive at Elevance Health over allegations that the insurer submitted fraudulent Medicare Advantage claims to the government. On May 20, the judge ordered…