Legal & Regulatory Issues

Alexander A. Hannenberg, MD, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, reacted to President Obama's signing of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, saying the new law required "continued scrutiny, action and involvement by ASA and…

A group of physicians planning a hospital in Hammond, Ind., received a $7 million bond for the project from federal stimulus funds but is considering how to move forward now that the health reform law will ban new physician-owned hospitals,…

A bill introduced in the Tennessee Senate would eliminate West Tennessee Healthcare's Jackson-Madison General Hospital's antitrust exemption, which allows it to negotiate exclusive contracts with health insurers, according to a report by the Jackson Sun.

After a day of political wrangling and arm-twisting, Georgia's Senate approved a 1.45 percent tax on hospitals' patient revenue that would raise roughly $170 million, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal Constitution. The bill, HB 307, passed 31-15,…

CMS should improve payment processes that allowed $231 million in overpayments identified by Recovery Audit Contractors in the three-year demonstration phase of the RAC program, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

A Georgia bill passed by the House that would levy a 1.45 percent tax on hospitals to make up Medicaid shortfalls has stalled in the Senate, according to a report by Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Jim Witt, president and CEO of Mokena, Ill.-based Provena Health, is supporting his U.S. Congressman's vote in support of federal health reform, according to a report by the Daily Herald.

A new report to CMS says most hospitals receiving wage index reclassifications and exceptions would not benefit from a new methodology proposed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, according to AHA News Now.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a nationwide conservative physicians' organization, has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the new health reform law, according to a report by the Arizona Daily Star.

New decision by the U.S. Supreme Court limits the use whistleblower lawsuits against hospitals and other organizations for alleged fraud against the federal government, according to a report by Bloomberg News.