Legal & Regulatory Issues

As the full House of Representatives readies for a vote on the House Democrats' health reform bill — perhaps as early as Saturday — a small exception has been added to the section in the bill that would severely restrict…

Ron DeVito, CFO of Hoboken University Medical Center, has resigned, after an audit revealed poor financial practices resulting in accounting overstatements, according to a report from the Hudson Reporter.

Six Massachusetts hospitals with high proportions of government funding are considering filing a lawsuit to force the state to pay the full Medicaid funding that they were expecting, according to a report by the Eagle-Tribune.

Covington, Ky.-based Omnicare, the nation's largest nursing home pharmacy, will pay $98 million, and IVAX Pharmaceuticals of Weston, Fla., a drug manufacturer, will pay $14 million to settle false claims allegations, which allege the companies engaged in a kickback scheme,…

CMS is going ahead with plans to slash Medicare physician reimbursements by 21.2 percent next year, following a requirement to put reimbursements in line with a sustainable growth rate formula, according to a final rule issued by CMS.

Due to a request from Congress, the Federal Trade Commission is delaying enforcement of the Red Flags Rule until June 1, 2010, for financial institutions and creditors subject to enforcement by the FTC, according to an FTC news release.

The Georgia Department of Insurance has fined United Healthcare Insurance Co. $750,000 for failure to pay claims within 15 days of receipt as is required by Georgia law, according to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Noel Wayne Jhagroo, the owner and operator of a Houston-area durable medical equipment company has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Medicare program in a scheme to submit approximately $962,000 in fraudulent claims, according to a Department of Justice News release.

South Texas Health Systems in McAllen, Texas, has agreed to pay $27.5 million to settle claims that it paid kickbacks to physicians for referring patients to its hospitals, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jean Joseph Paul, the operator of God Cares, a home health company located in Miami-Dade County, was arrested on charges he defrauded the Florida Medicaid program for more than $54,000, according to news release by the Office of the Attorney…