A new law went into effect in New Jersey allowing independent practice for certain experienced advanced practice nurses (APNs).
|
||||
|
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) announced a new, phased revalidation initiative requiring all enrolled Medicaid providers to complete revalidation by June 2028 using only the online New York State Medicaid Provider Services Portal (PSP). New York Board of Pharmacy imposes strict operational requirements for obtaining and maintaining pharmacy registrations. A pharmacy’s failure to comply with those requirements could result in an enforcement action. Key Requirements for Registration and Operation The following are some key registration and operational requirements that New York pharmacies must comply with: Location Specific. Registration On February 25, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced a nationwide six-month moratorium on the enrollment of new Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (“DMEPOS”) suppliers. This moratorium became effective on February 27, 2026.** Key Details of the Moratorium Duration: The moratorium will last for six months, with the possibility The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has finalized significant revisions to the DMEPOS accreditation program in the CY 2026 Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Final Rule (90 Fed. Reg. 55342). With limited exceptions, CMS adopted the DMEPOS accreditation proposals as issued. The changes are intended to strengthen program integrity and Effective January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) requires most businesses, including healthcare businesses, to report certain information regarding beneficial owners and company applicants. Willful failure to report or update beneficial ownership information may result in the imposition of penalties. CTA in a Nutshell The CTA and its implementing regulations seek to Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) published a proposed rule prohibiting employers from using non-compete clauses (also called “restrictive covenants”) in their contracts with workers. Similarly, the New Jersey legislature recently proposed a bill that would limit the scope of restrictive covenants between employers and workers. If finalized, these measures would impact the relationship many physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals have with their employers. On October 7, 2020, New York State Public Health 230 was amended to require every physician’s “practice setting” to post a conspicuous sign regarding where to report professional misconduct. Beginning with dates of services of January 1, 2020, all non-exempt New York State Medicaid payments to providers will be uniformly reduced by 1%. Similar to other licensed healthcare professionals, New Jersey’s ophthalmic dispensers and ophthalmic technicians have to follow certain rules and regulations when it comes to adverting their practice. New Jersey’s State Board of Examiners of Ophthalmic Dispensers and Ophthalmic Technicians (“Board”), the state licensing and governing agency, has extensive regulations governing the do’s and don’ts of advertising for ophthalmic dispensers and technicians. Below we summarize a subset of those rules. It is the twenty-second year of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC) established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The HCFAC’s annual report for 2018 shows continued focus on preventing and eliminating fraud, waste and abuse from the Medicare and Medicaid programs and increased cooperation between government agencies to facilitate data sharing. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced in April of this year that it is adding 12 new HCPCS codes to the Required Prior Authorization List of DMEPOS items that require prior authorization as a condition of payment. Prior authorization for Pressure Reducing Support Surfaces will be implemented nationwide in October. On July 2, 2019, New Jersey’s Governor, Phil Murphy, signed into law the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act (“Act”) which greatly expands and reforms New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana program. New Jersey pharmacy owners know that every New Jersey pharmacy must appoint a Pharmacist-in-charge (“PIC”) and a pharmacy cannot operate without a PIC for longer than 30 days. Below we review some of the many responsibilities that go with the title. OCR Proposes Changes to the Civil Rights Enforcement Section of the Affordable Care Act Section 1557The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the Office of the Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently proposed changes to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“Act”). This Section of the Act prohibits civil rights discrimination in certain health programs or activities. Some of the major changes, include, among others, revising the regulatory definition of what constitutes discrimination on the “basis of sex”. The proposal also includes healthcare conscience protections. Additionally, the proposed rule would eliminate taglines and notices requirement and it would revise the language access and grievance procedures of the rule. An electronic medical records company recently settled with the Office of the Civil Rights (“OCR”) for violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) following a discovery of a cyberattack on its servers which contained the protected health information (PHI) of approximately 3.5 million individuals. The New Jersey Department of Health’s recent biannual report recommended ways to improve the New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana Program in three key areas. The Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) recently published the False Claims Act settlements risk spectrum for the first quarter of 2019. The risk spectrum identifies the number of settled cases and their assigned risk category. Many website design and development contracts as well as marketing and electronic medical records agreements (“technology contracts”) contain onerous terms and layers of user fees. If a physician or a dentist (“provider”) decides to part ways with the vendor under a technology contract the transition may be costly or cost prohibitive. One of the best ways providers can protect themselves against a slue of additional costs and concerns about possible loss of data is to have the contract reviewed by a healthcare attorney before signing on the dotted line. |
 |
|||