The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments from the state of Idaho on one side and Medicaid health care providers on the other, about whether those providers can sue the State over low reimbursement rates under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. The...
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Firm News
House Passes Two Bills Affecting the Employer Mandate
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...
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...
Public Hearing Set for Tomorrow on Proposed Hemp Regulations by RI Department of Business Regulations
The RI Department of Business Regulations (DBR) will hold a public hearing tomorrow (August 16, 2016) at 10 a.m. on its proposed regulations for the state’s Industrial Hemp Agricultural Pilot Program (Hemp Regulations). The hearing will be held at the Department of...
Landmark Decision – Police Must Have a Warrant for Cell Phone Location Data
Is your cell phone nearby? Are you reading this article on it right now? It’s probably no surprise to you that Americans are with their cell phones constantly. And, you may already know that your cell phone is constantly scanning for the best signal. What you may not...
No More Agency Fees for Public Employees
For over forty years, public-sector unions could impose what were known as “agency fees” on non-members. The logic was that a union serving as the exclusive representative of a unit of employees is required to represent the interests of all employees, union member or...
Lessons from Cyber Breaches
Ten years ago, the mention of a cyber security breach was a rarity. Today, reports of breach incidents are almost commonplace. Every time a breach occurs in business the potential to cause significant harm and financial loss is mind-numbing. In addition, when the...
Supreme Court to Decide Limits on Police Cellphone Tracking
This term, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the police can track the real-time cellphone-based location and movements of a suspect using the suspect’s cellphone records. In Carpenter v. U.S., the police obtained Mr. Carpenter’s cellphone number from one of...