The Federal Trade Commission has warned Tennessee lawmakers that proposed legislation allowing Ballad Health’s Certificate of Public Advantage to expire without competing hospitals in place could harm patients by increasing costs and reducing care quality while the system faces no…
Legal & Regulatory Issues
A judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging an antitrust conspiracy by healthcare technology company Zelis and five major health insurers, according to a March 30 court filing.…
Three weeks after a federal judge voided recent decisions by a CDC vaccine advisory panel, the agency changed the committee’s appointment process to place nominations under the purview of HHS chief, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The HHS Secretary now has authority…
Steubenville, Ohio-based Trinity Hospital has agreed to pay $1.7 million to resolve allegations of improper financial relationships with two referring physicians in violation of the Stark law, the Justice Department said in an April 2 news release. Between 2014 and…
CMS published its final 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D rule on April 2, enacting changes to star ratings, supplemental benefits administration, Part D coverage, and a series of deregulatory provisions. The rule is effective June 1 and applies to…
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The Leapfrog Group is expanding its Ambulatory Surgery Center Public Reporting Program to include nearly 4,000 ASCs in the U.S. The expanded program will use CMS public reporting, accreditation standards and its “ASC Survey 2.0” measure and report ASC performance,…
Digital rights advocacy organization the Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against CMS seeking information on how the AI algorithms work in its traditional Medicare prior authorization pilot. CMS’ Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction model…
While a federal judge rejected an HHS funding threat against healthcare organizations providing gender-affirming care to minors last month, the ruling has not cleared a path for hospitals to resume such services. Hospitals and health systems continue to face a…
More than 130 hospitals have filed a lawsuit against HHS challenging how the agency calculates disproportionate share hospital payments, arguing the policy unlawfully reduces reimbursement for facilities serving low-income patients. The complaint, filed March 30 in the U.S. District Court…
Health savings accounts have become one of the more active areas of federal health policy over the past year, with GOP lawmakers pushing to expand eligibility and use the tax-advantaged accounts as a vehicle for broader consumer-driven healthcare reform. Four…