Legal & Regulatory Issues

North Carolina expects to recover tens of millions dollars a year in fraudulent Medicaid claims by hiring a contractor to sift through electronic submissions rather than relying on reviews of paper claims, according to a report by Business Week.

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a cap on medical malpractice damages created in 2005 cannot be applied retroactively to cases that occurred before the cap went into effect, according to a report by Business Week.

A new physician-owned hospital in Springfield, Ohio, was built before the new ban on new physician-owned hospitals takes effect but it will have to cancel plans for an expansion because of the ban, according to a report by the Springfield…

Republicans in the Florida Senate have proposed legislation that would make physicians, nurses and paramedics who work in emergency rooms "agents of the state," protecting them from medical malpractice lawsuits, according to a report in the St. Petersburg Times.

The healthcare legislation signed into law by President Obama included provisions by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would require tax-exempt hospitals to complete a community needs assessment once every three years and adopt and publicize a financial assistance policy; prohibit…

Rolondae Mitchell-Straughter and Ana Quinteros both pleaded guilty in connection with their roles in an "arthritis kit" Medicare fraud scheme, according to a news release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

For physician-owned hospitals, the healthcare reform bill and its impact is very clear and very negative. For ASCs, there is much less direct impact and the long-term impact is much less clear.

Two rival hospital districts in North San Diego County are locked in a legal battle over territory, according to a report by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Supreme Court of Georgia has struck down the state's legislated limit on noneconomic damages for professional liability cases, according to a release from the Georgia Hospital Association.

As President Obama signed the sweeping healthcare reform overhaul bill into law, some states are planning to challenge it in court. Already, several states have moved in that direction, arguing the bill's individual mandate oversteps the federal government's constitutional powers…