Fowler White Health Care eNews

Final Issue: Health Care eNews

As we’ve previously highlighted, the merger of Fowler White Boggs and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney became effective on March 14, 2014, bringing significant opportunities to further strengthen many of our key practice areas, such as healthcare, corporate, litigation, real estate, and banking & financial services.

We will be transitioning from our monthly health care eNewsletter to an advisory and alert system. Our attorneys continue to actively monitor the health care industry for the latest trends and this new system will enable you to stay updated on the latest policies and findings affecting the industry. As a subscriber of this eNews, you are already signed up to receive our health care advisories. If you would like to receive updates on additional topics and industries, please visit our website to subscribe.

To learn more about our expanded health care capabilities, please click here.

Forty-Two Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Attorneys Selected Among America's Leading Business Lawyers

Forty-two Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney attorneys were selected by their clients and peers for inclusion among America's Leading Business Lawyers by Chambers USA in the practices of Antitrust, Banking & Finance, Bankruptcy/Restructuring, Corporate/M&A and Private Equity, Environment, General Commercial and Appellate Litigation, Healthcare Law, Immigration, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Real Estate, Tax and White Collar Crime & Government Investigations Litigation.

In addition, Edward M. Waller, Jr. (Florida), John R. Washlick (Pennsylvania) and Robert B. Ramsey (Pennsylvania) were recognized among the leading practitioners in Health Care Law for their respective states.

Click here for the full listing of Buchanan attorneys ranked in the publication.

About Chambers USA
The publication's rankings are based upon the recommendations of more than 10,000 clients and lawyers throughout the United States. Chambers USA researchers conduct thousands of interviews to obtain opinions about the lawyers and law firms the interviewees have dealt with over the past year. The leading law firms and attorneys are then compiled and ranked based on the comments in the interviews.

Chambers USA is a Chambers & Partners publication. Chambers & Partners, based in London, began as a general book publisher in 1969. The legal recruitment aspect of the company was initiated four years later.

Ruling Bans Companies From Shifting Workers Into Health Exchanges

Many employers thought they could shift health costs to the government by sending their employees to a health insurance exchange with a tax-free contribution of cash to help pay premiums, but the Obama administration has squelched this idea in a new ruling. Such arrangements do not satisfy the health care law, the administration said, and employers may be subject to a tax penalty of $100 a day -- or $36,500 a year -- for each employee who goes into the individual marketplace.
Read full story at The New York Times.

Medicare May Be Overpaying Hospitals $5B Under Two-Midnight Rule

The federal government may be overpaying hospitals an estimated $5 billion as a result of the 18-month moratorium on enforcing a controversial rule that tells hospitals when patients should be admitted, an independent Medicare auditing company told a congressional panel. Last September, Medicare officials announced that patients whose doctors expect them to stay in the hospital through two midnights or longer should be admitted, while those expected to stay for less time should be kept for observation.
Read full story at MedPage Today.

CMS to Slow Down 'Meaningful Use' EHR Program

Federal health officials are proposing to delay a deadline for the adoption of electronic health records (EHR) in a major victory for doctors and hospitals. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services outlined several ways it will slow down the "Meaningful Use" EHR program in a proposed rule.
Read full story at The Hill.

Primary Care System Handling Load Under Affordable Care Act

Despite dire predictions, the nation's primary care system is handling the increased number of insured patients without major problems so far, according to interviews with community health centers, large physician practices and insurers nationwide. Five months into the biggest expansion of health coverage in 50 years -- with about 13 million people enrolled in private insurance and Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act -- there are few reports of patients facing major delays getting care, say officials from more than two dozen health centers and multi-group practices, as well as insurers and physician groups in nine big states.
Read full story at Kaiser Health News.

Hospitals Unsure How to Cover Funding Gap for Uninsured Patients

Hospitals are in a state of uncertainty as to how to cover the funding gap from uninsured patients as Medicaid and Medicare are expected to decrease payments for those bills. A new report from the Urban Institute in the most recent Health Affairs journal notes Medicare payments to help compensate for the cost of treating the uninsured in hospitals are set to drop this year as more get coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Read full story at The Hill.

Georgia Allows Rural Hospitals to Downsize Amid Struggles

As rural hospitals struggle, Georgia is letting stand-alone emergency rooms treat people in the countryside who would otherwise have to drive far away when they break an arm, need stitches or have a baby. The state agency that licenses medical facilities changed its rules this year to allow a rural hospital that's failing or has already closed in the last year to scale back its operations and reopen as a freestanding emergency room.
Read full story at ABC News.

Number of Doctors Employed by Hospitals Grew 34% Over 10 Years

According to data from the American Hospital Association, the number of physicians employed by hospitals grew by 34 percent between 2000 and 2010, and the pace shows no signs of slackening. There are a number of reasons hospitals want to employ physicians.
Read full story at The Atlantic.

Health Insurers Steering Clear of Covering Medical Marijuana

Patients who use medical marijuana for pain and other chronic symptoms can take an unwanted hit: Insurers don't cover the treatment, which costs as much as $1,000 a month. Marijuana in recent years has gained increased mainstream acceptance for its ability to boost appetite, dull pain and reduce seizures in people with a wide range of disorders and diseases, including epilepsy and cancer, but insurers are reluctant to cover it, in part because of conflicting laws.
Read full story at Los Angeles Times.

International Crackdown Focuses on Illegal Online Pharmacies

Illegal online pharmacies that sell unapproved and potentially dangerous prescription drugs to Americans were targeted in a worldwide operation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. More than 19,600 packages containing medicines supposedly from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain were seized in the action, which involved authorities from 111 countries, the FDA said in a news release.
Read full story at HealthDay.

Senate Panel Recommends Approval of Burwell to Head HHS

A Senate panel recommended approval of President Obama's pick to oversee implementation of the Affordable Care Act, all but assuring Sylvia Mathews Burwell's confirmation as the next secretary of Health and Human Services. Eight Republicans joined all 13 Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee in endorsing Burwell, who is expected to easily be confirmed when her nomination is considered by the full Senate, likely next month.
Read full story at Los Angeles Times.