On April 24, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published responses to certain frequently asked questions and further explained its application of administrative enforcement authorities to arrangements directly connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

OIG stated that it is accepting inquiries regarding application of its administrative

On April 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will no longer accept new applications from physician practices, medical equipment suppliers, and other providers for its Advance Payment Program. CMS will continue to accept applications from hospitals for loans under its Accelerated Payment Program but will be reevaluating the amounts

In 1969, noted economist Milton Friedman coined the term “helicopter money” to describe the monetary policy of injecting liquidity into the market, much like dropping money to people from helicopters, as an alternative to quantitative easing. The CARES Act, popularly referred to as the Provider Relief Fund is a “helicopter” that dropped a lot of

The New York State Department of Health has issued a General Information System (GIS) message clarifying the impact of COVID-19 related payments on Medicaid eligibility determinations.

The GIS confirms that pursuant to sections 2104 and 2201 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 certain pandemic-related payments will not impact Medicaid

Although Executive Order 202.10 gave health care providers some immunity for COVID-19 related care, this immunity does not extend to actions by the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs (“Justice Center”). A provider or facility could be prosecuted for allegations of abuse or neglect by the Justice Center for actions taken during this

After a teaser on Twitter and a verbal preview during a press conference, President Trump has signed an executive order preventing certain foreign nationals from receiving an immigrant visa for the next 60 days. The purpose of the order is protecting United States workers from competition from foreign workers. In reality, however, the order will

Two recent decisions of the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) illustrate that age and disability status cannot be used as blanket criteria for denying access to health care services, even during a pandemic. This should serve as a warning to healthcare providers about the risks in making triage decisions

On April 16, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California charged Dr. Jennings Ryan Staley, a licensed physician and the operator of Skinny Beach Med Spa in San Diego, with mail fraud in connection with his offer to sell “COVID-19 treatment packs” to patients and the general public. Emails sent by Dr. Staley

On April 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it had paid out over $34 billion under the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program to healthcare providers affected by the coronavirus public health emergency. Two days later, the figure had grown to $51 billion.

CMS announced an expansion of the program on

An April 13 article in Part B News, “Seeking a lifeline: COVID-19 loans, advance payments on offer, but watch terms,” discussed programs under which healthcare providers can seek financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Medicare’s Accelerated and Advance Payment Program and the U.S. Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Rivkin Radler’s Robert Iseman