Legal & Regulatory Issues

Riccy Mederos, a resident of Miami, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud at a U.S. District Court in Savannah, Ga., according to a report from WSAV-TV.

Fifty-three physicians, healthcare executives and beneficiaries have been indicted in Detroit-based Medicare fraud schemes, which are estimated to have cost Medicare $50 million, according to a Department of Health and Human Services news release.

With the changes occurring in Washington, D.C., regarding healthcare reform, it is important for surgery centers and physician-owned hospitals to take notice of what is being discussed and how this can affect their businesses.Mike Lipomi, president of RMC Medstone, discusses…

Eight Miami residents were indicted by the Department of Justice on charges that they were involved in two Medicare and Medicaid Advantage fraud schemes, according to a DOJ news release.

I. Summary/ConclusionHHS relied mainly on voluntary compliance measures to address HIPAA violations until approximately one year ago. Recent settlements between HHS and health care providers suggest, however, that resolution settlements could be more severe if a violation happens today. HHS…

The U.S. House of Representatives issued the first draft of its healthcare reform legislation, which could have "a devastating effect on physician-owned hospitals," according to a news release from the Physician Hospitals of America.

Bic Chau Stafford, DPM, a podiatrist practicing in St. Louis, Mo., was sentenced to five months in prison for fraudulently billing Medicare and then attempting to cover up the fraud, according to a report in the St. Louis Dispatch.

Mehmood Patel, MD, a cardiologist from Lafayette, La., has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud, according to a Department of Justice news release.

N.Y. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has reached an agreement with California-based insurer HealthNet over flawed out-of-network reimbursement processes, according to a news release from his office.

President Obama and congressional leaders are proposing the creation of a new public health insurance plan to compete with private insurance plans. The President first proposed a public insurance option during the 2008 presidential campaign, but now the details and…