If yours is one of the small clinical practices with less than $30,000 in Medicare revenue or fewer than 100 unique Medicare patients per year, October 2, 2017 will be just another Monday. However, for most Medicare-participating health care practitioners, Monday,...
PLDO Law Blog
Health Care
Nursing Facilities Under Increased Government Scrutiny
Nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities ("SNF") should be aware that they will be in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) in 2017. As part of this year's Annual Work Plan, OIG has identified...
Nursing Home Laws Create Extra Challenges – Vigilance is Key to Compliance
In 1987, the Nursing Home Reform Act ("NHRA") was passed to ensure that residents of nursing homes would receive quality care at all times in order to achieve and maintain their "highest practicable" physical, mental and psychosocial well-being. With the law came...
Billions Spent Illegally on ACA Benefits
The Affordable Care Act ("ACA") created both tax credits to make health insurance premiums more affordable and cost-sharing reductions intended to reduce deductibles, coinsurance, and co-pays. According to the ACA, insurers are required to reduce the cost-sharing of...
REAL ESTATE TITLE DISPUTES: THE PROCESS OF RECORDING “LIS PENDENS” IN RHODE ISLAND AND MASSACHUSETTS
If you or your business ends up in a dispute over real estate, it is likely that you will encounter a lis pendens. Lis pendens is Latin for “suit pending,” and it means just that, it is a statutorily governed legal tool that is often used to give notice on a...
HIGH STAKES: DRAFTING AND INTERPRETING PAYMENT REJECTIONS UNDER MASSACHUSETTS’ PROMPT PAY ACT
Under the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Act, which governs construction contracts, unless an owner meets the Act's "time and substance" requirements for rejecting a payment application from a contractor (ditto for subcontractors' applications to contractors), that...
RHODE ISLAND SUPREME COURT RULES THAT A PROPERTY’S FORECLOSURE WAS VALID DESPITE PLAINTIFF’S CLAIMS THAT MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS WERE “AMBIGUOUS”
BackgroundA recent case arose out of foreclosure proceedings that were instituted by Wells Fargo Bank (“Wells Fargo” or “defendant”) with respect to property located at 18 High Street in Bristol, Rhode Island. The property’s owner (“plaintiff”) secured the mortgage by...
FDA CONSIDERS RESCHEDULING MARIJUANA: A MILESTONE IN DRUG POLICY REFORM
The landscape of drug policy in the United States is poised for a significant shift as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) undertakes a reassessment of marijuana’s drug scheduling classification. The FDA is conducting a comprehensive review of marijuana’s current...
ARE NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENTS ENFORCEABLE IN RHODE ISLAND?
COURTS RULE IN FAVOR OF THE EMPLOYER’S AGREEMENT IN RECENT CASE The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently addressed the enforceability of a non-competition provision. In Walls v. Griggs & Browne Pest Control, Inc., the Court reviewed an agreement between Brian Walls...
