Alaska’s Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development has finalized new regulations to create a special Telemedicine Business Registry for health care providers delivering telemedicine services in the Frontier State. The regulations in Title 12, Chapter 02 of the Alaska Administrative Code were effective on April 28, 2017 and implement provisions of Alaska SB 74…… Continue reading this entry
So far 2017 is proving to be an active year for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enforcement. This comes on the heels of 2016, which saw an unprecedented level of enforcement actions, with 13 total settlements and nearly a 300 percent increase in total collected fines over 2015. To date in 2017, nine…… Continue reading this entry
New Jersey has a new telemedicine law, recently signed by Governor Chris Christie. The law cements the validity of telehealth services in the Garden State, establishes telemedicine practice standards, and imposes telehealth coverage requirements for New Jersey Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, commercial health plans, and other State-funded health insurance. After a year of debate in…… Continue reading this entry
For what may be the first time, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) recently announced a new project to review Medicare payments for telehealth services. Accordingly, providers who bill the Medicare program for telehealth services may expect to have those claims reviewed to confirm the patient…… Continue reading this entry
The Maine legislature passed with broad bipartisan approval L.D. 911, An Act to Prohibit Certain Gifts to Health Care Practitioners. The legislation prohibits gifts to practitioners who are licensed to prescribe and administer drugs by manufacturers, wholesalers, or agents of manufacturers or wholesalers of prescription drugs. What’s Excluded? Free samples of prescription drugs for patients…… Continue reading this entry
The Federal Office for Management and Budget has withdrawn the proposed omnibus guidance for the 340B Drug Pricing Program (previously referred to as the “Mega-Regs”), creating further uncertainty in the 340B Program. The guidance was proposed in the Fall of 2015, and would have updated all areas of 340B Program guidance. The guidance would have … Continue reading this entry