Legal & Regulatory Issues

A new Texas Law, which takes effect today, allows physician assistants to hold ownership stakes in physician groups, including professional associations or professional limited liability companies, according to an alert by Texas law firm Jackson Walker LLP.

Federal and state regulators have increased scrutiny around false claims involving medically unnecessary services in recent years. Such claims are costly to Medicare, Medicaid and other payors, and providers are liable under the False Claims Act for these false billing…

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's challenge of healthcare reform's individual mandate, according to a St. Louis Business Journal report.

HHS has released a final rule outlining ways in which the department will reduce regulatory burdens, according to an AHA News Now report.

Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md., has agreed to have its cardiac catheterizations overseen by an independent review organization, according to its corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Arkansas officials, including Gov. Mike Beebe, have found nine areas that would be targeted for reformed Medicaid payments in its hope of moving away from the fee-for-service model to episodes of care, according to a BusinessWeek report.

The former chairman of the ophthalmology department at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia has been convicted of 150 counts of healthcare fraud and other related charges, according to a Philadelphia Business Journal report. Joseph J. Kubacki, MD, was…

Although Medicaid has been reported to be off the table in debt reduction talks, Families USA, a non-profit healthcare advocacy group, argues Congressional members of the debt reduction committee may seek cuts to the program after all, according to The…

Coastal Carolina Hospital in Hardeeville, S.C., won a state Court of Appeals ruling, allowing it to make its portable MRI unit permanent, according to an Island Packet report.

Last week, Kansas became the second state to reject the Early Innovator Grant, a multi-million dollar subsidy from the federal government awarded to seven states for implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The grants were intended in part…