Legal & Regulatory Issues

CMS has announced the partial freeze on updates to both the ICD-9 and ICD-10 clinical coding sets is expected to continue through the new ICD-10 implementation date of Oct. 1, 2015.

The California Senate Health Committee has approved Senate Bill 1005 to expand subsidized healthcare programs to undocumented immigrants residing within the state.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it will allow more veterans to receive healthcare services from private hospitals while the VA works to resolve capacity management issues, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras has ruled against HHS in a suit challenging a final rule from the agency expanding the 340B drug discount program to rural and cancer hospitals as outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has set up a procedural vote on the nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell as HHS secretary.

Tampa, Fla.-based WellCare operates HMOs in several states, providing health and prescription drug plans to 3.5 million members through Medicare and Medicaid. On May 19, three top executives from the company were sentenced for their involvement in a scheme to…

 On March 31, Congress passed a bill to address the sustainable growth rate for physician reimbursement, which also included language to delay the ICD-10 implementation date by at least one year. After a month of uncertainty, CMS released a statement…

Because of the ICD-10 delay, CMS has announced a partial freeze on updates to the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 codes will continue until Oct. 1, 2016.

Praveen Suthrum of NextServices explains how new GI coding changes will impact the industry.

Since March, the government has unsealed 58 cases filed under the qui tam, or whistle-blower, provision of the False Claims Act, according to a National Law Review report.