Aug 11, 2020 | Cyber Law, HIPAA
The HHS Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), which is charged with implementing and overseeing HIPAA, recently alerted providers of a potential scam being perpetrated by postcards falsely purporting to be from OCR. These postcards were directed to the attention of the...
Aug 10, 2020 | Government Investigations, White Collar Crime
On August 6, 2020, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that it had charged a Georgia businessman with “hoarding and price gouging” in violation of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA). According to the government’s...
Aug 6, 2020 | COVID-19 Related Law, Fraud Investigations, Government Investigations, Health Care, Medicare and Medicaid
On August 4, 2020, the Office of Inspector General for the United States Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) updated its FAQs regarding the application of OIG’s administrative enforcement authorities to arrangements directly connected to the ongoing COVID-19...
Aug 4, 2020 | False Claims Act, Government Investigations
On July 30, 2020, United States Senator Charles Grassley announced that he intends to introduce legislation which would strengthen the federal False Claims Act (FCA). Grassley indicated that his proposed legislation would, at least in part, specifically address the...
Aug 3, 2020 | Business Litigation
Nearly two years after Georgia voters approved a Constitutional amendment to create a statewide business court, the business court will begin accepting filed cases on August 1, 2020. The court was many years in the making, launched in part by the 2017 Final Report of...
Jul 30, 2020 | COVID-19 Related Law, Government Investigations, Health Care, Medicare and Medicaid
On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into the law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). The CARES Act includes a Provider Relief Fund (“PRF”) with more than $100 billion to reimburse eligible providers for healthcare-related...
Jul 27, 2020 | Health Care
On July 8, 2020, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that Hope Hospice agreed to pay $3.2 million to resolve a qui tam whistleblower action under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). The settlement resolved allegations that...
Jul 24, 2020 | COVID-19 Related Law
The U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published its Revised Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“Revised Guidance”). On May 27, 2020, the Revised Guidance went into effect and OSHA’s...
Jul 21, 2020 | Fraud Investigations, Health Care
Since the beginning of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telemedicine and telehealth services has skyrocketed. In March, we wrote about the temporary expansion of telehealth services by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Specifically, CMS...
Jul 13, 2020 | COVID-19 Related Law, General, Health Care
On Sine Die (the last day of the legislative session), the Georgia General Assembly passed SB359 to provide liability protections to healthcare providers and businesses in the state. As COVID-19 continues to attack the community, healthcare facilities and providers...
