On January 31, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14192 "Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation." It states that it is the Administration's policy to reduce how much it costs to comply with Federal regulations, and "to secure America’s economic prosperity and national security and the highest possible quality of life for each citizen." CMS is seeking … Continue reading Can CMS Unleash Prosperity Through Deregulation?
With the Inpatient Prospective Payment System for 2026 proposed, we now have a view of how HHS intends to administer the “meaningful use” program for hospitals in 2026. In short, most hospitals that do not demonstrate meaningful use of their EMRs will be subject to a 1% penalty on their Medicare revenues. The proposed rule … Continue reading Meaningful Use for Hospitals (CY 2026 Proposed Rule)
In a prior post, I wrote about how Secretary Kennedy revoked the Richardson waiver. It stated that “[e]ffective immediately, the Richardson Waiver is rescinded and is no longer the policy of the Department. In accordance with the APA, “matters relating to agency management or personnel or to public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts,” are … Continue reading Fee Schedules Begin to Drop
The Fourth Circuit of Appeals recently ruled that violations of the 21st Century Cures Act’s prohibition against information blocking may form the basis for tort claims under state laws, specifically in this case, Maryland’s unfair competition laws. Here, an applications developer, Real Time, was allegedly blocked from accessing PointClickCare’s electronic medical record system visa-vi a … Continue reading A Private Right to Action for Information Blocking? Not Quite, But Almost.
The Trump administration has repeatedly made it clear that fraud, waste, and abuse will be targets under the new administration, and healthcare is feeling the heat. This administration has signaled a robust approach to enforcing the False Claims Act, with a continued priority focus on coding and violations of the Anti-kickback Statute. It will also … Continue reading Responding to Subpoenas, Warrants, and Other Process for PHI
On February 28, 2025, Secretary Kennedy revoked the “Richardson Waiver,” and in doing so, stated that: “The policy waiving the statutory exemption for rules relating to public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts is contrary to the clear text of the APA and imposes on the Department obligations beyond the maximum procedural requirements specified in … Continue reading Secretary Kennedy’s Revocation of the Richardson Waiver
On December 27, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new HIPAA Security Rule (“the Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule is significant in scope, retains the current Security Rule’s requirements for “reasonable” safeguards while making many specific practices required visa-vi HIPAA’s implementation specifications, requires the implementation of several industry standard practices (e.g. … Continue reading The Proposed HIPAA Security Rule: The Good, the Bad, and What You Can Do
The next Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability (“HTI) rule looks like it is coming in March. The Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulation Affairs’ Unified Agenda, which is published at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/, has an indication on it that a fourth “HTI” rule will be published under the title “Health Data, Technology, and … Continue reading HTI-4 and What’s Next for HHS ASTP/ONC.
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