Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills affecting the employer mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance to all full-time employees or pay a...
PLDO Law Blog
Adam Greshowak
Investments in Digital Health More Than Doubled in 2014
Companies invested $6.5B on digital health in 2014, compared to $2.9B in 2013 - a 125% increase, according to a report issued by StartUp Health, LLC. Using publically available data, StartUp Health analyzed the market's top deals in digital health funding in 2014. The...
Recent CMS Decision Serves as Notice to Review “Bad Debt” Collection Policies
A recent decision by a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") Administrator serves as a reminder to providers regarding "bad debt" collection efforts. Medicare providers can be reimbursed for "bad debts," which are "uncollectible" amounts attributable to...
Medicaid Market Explodes as Primary Care Doctors Face Major Cut in Fees for Services
The market is flooded with millions of people who have new Medicaid coverage at the same time primary care physicians (PCP) who care for this population face a major cut in pay. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) authorized the federal government to fund a temporary...
Weddings are (Still) not an “Agricultural Operation”
The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently had the opportunity to review a 2014 amendment to the Right to Farm Act (the "RFA") in The Gerald P. Zarrella Trust et al. v. Town of Exeter et al., SU #2016-301-A. In that matter, the plaintiff sought a declaration that RFA, as...
DANGER LURKS WITH INCENTIVE-BASED SALES STRATEGIES FOR HEALTH IT PLATFORMS
A wise person learns from the mistakes of others; and recently, the health IT industry was afforded such a learning opportunity by a well-known EHR platform. athenahealth, Inc. (Athena), an industry-leading EHR vendor, agreed to pay $18.25 million to resolve...
A “NATURAL DISASTER” – THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON CONTRACTS
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we wrote about the legal concept of “force majeure” clauses found in some business contracts. A force majeure clause excuses a party from performing its obligations under a contract based upon some unforeseen and serious event such as a...
IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE DURING THE PANDEMIC
It is widely recognized that the system of corporate governance is a key approach to preserving and protecting an enterprise and its stakeholders by checks and balances among the board and officers of a corporation. Strong governance policies make it possible to...
