Commercial Litigation Update

Finds that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services put its “thumb on the scale” 

On Monday February 8, a judge in the Eastern District of Texas again rejected the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) rules on the grounds that the Rules continued to “put a thumb on the scale” for the arbitrator’s reliance on the Qualified Payment Amount (QPA) contrary to the statutory language of the No Surprises Act.

Has private equity’s role in the nursing home industry led to lower quality of care? In an article for Thomson Reuters Westlaw Today, “Is Private Equity Really the Boogeyman in Nursing Home Quality of Care?” attorneys Sarah Hall and Eleanor Chung consider both sides of the issue and look at some possible solutions.

Our colleague Lauren Petrin of Epstein Becker Green has a new post on Health Law Advisor that will be of interest to our readers:  "DOJ's Recent Telehealth Enforcement Action Highlights Increased Abuse of COVID-19 Waivers."

The following is an excerpt:

On May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a coordinated law enforcement action against 14 telehealth executives, physicians, marketers, and healthcare business owners for their alleged fraudulent COVID-19 related Medicare claims resulting in over $143 million in false billing.[1] This coordinated ...