Legal & Regulatory Issues

A new bill introduced by the Senate would require all physicians who receive $100 or more from drug makers and device manufacturers to disclose this payment information on the Web, according to a report from the American Medical News.

CIGNA has agreed to end its relationship with the Ingenix database and pay $10 million towards the development of a new database, according to a news release from the N.Y. Office of the Attorney General.

In a 13-page letter to CMS, representatives of the nation’s largest hospital associations pushed the agency to expand its limitations on physician-hospital collaborations.

N.Y. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced a settlement with the nation’s largest health insurer, Indianapolis-based Wellpoint over allegations that the insurer manipulated reimbursement rates, according to news releases.

Maryland legislators introduced a bill that would require all hospitals within the state to provide free or low-cost medical care to patients whose income falls at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

The California Department of Insurance announced that Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Co. agreed to reinstate policies to 2,330 consumers whose coverage was rescinded between 2004 and 2008 without their consent, according to a Department of Insurance news…

Medical device maker NeuroMetrix has agreed to pay $3.7 million to settle federal allegations that it gave kickbacks to physicians, according to news releases from the U.S. Attorney's Office and NeuroMetrix.

The American Medical Association (AMA), along with several state medical associations, have filed two separate class-action lawsuits against Aetna Health and CIGNA Corp. alleging that the companies underpaid physicians using flawed billing practices, according to an AMA news release.

Q: Where a physician-owned lithotripsy partnership contracts with a hospital to provide a lithotripter and skilled technician "under arrangements," may the hospital pay for such services using a per-use or percentage-based compensation formula without violating the physician self-referral law?

CMS has announced that it will continue with the implementation of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program following a settlement with parties involved in protesting the awarded contracts.