The Kentucky Rural Hospital Loan Program, launched in 2020, is making $20 million in low-interest loans available to rural hospitals across the Commonwealth. Any hospital located within a Kentucky county with a population of less than 50,000 is eligible to apply. To qualify, the hospital must request funds to maintain or upgrade existing ...
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is pursuing entities that do not comply with Provider Relief Fund (PRF) terms and conditions, which includes a certification that the provider is not excluded or has its billing privileges suspended. According to a Report on Medicare Compliance article
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
In Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth Medical Center, No. 21-105-DLB-EBA (E.D. Ky. Sept. 24, 2021), Judge David Bunning refused to enjoin an employer’s mandatory vaccination policy. Under the employer’s vaccination policy, employees were required to get a COVID-19 vaccination unless they submitted a request for an ...
By: Margaret Young Levi
On September 30, 2021, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued welcome guidance concerning when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) applies to disclosures and requests for information about whether a person has received a COVID-19 vaccine—and when it does not apply.
The ...
By: Matt Lubozynski
Recently, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia decided whether the Patent Act requires that an inventor be a human being versus artificial intelligence in order to be granted a patent. See Thaler v. Hirshfeld, No. 1:20-cv-903 (LMB/TCB), 2021 EL 3934802 (E.D. Va. Sept. 2, 2021). Under the ...
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that effective September 20, 2021, it will allow Medicare-enrolled immunizers, including pharmacies, to bill directly and receive direct reimbursement from the Medicare program for vaccinating Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) residents. Social Security Act §§ ...
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved $41 million in a second round of funding for telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program reimburses health-care workers providing telecommunication ...
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled that employees at Kentucky’s Saint Elizabeth Medical Center Inc. must comply with the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate while its legality is being debated. The Court denied the employee’s motion for a temporary restraining order, saying that employees are not likely ...
Large healthcare systems that serve rural patients, not just providers located in rural areas, are eligible for a piece of the $8.5 billion in COVID-19 stimulus funding set aside for rural grants that the Health and Human Services Department announced it was distributing under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) earlier this month. Eligibility for ...
The FDA Clearance and Recommendations. On September 22, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer Inc.-BioNtech COVID-19 Vaccine to allow single booster doses to be administered to individuals 65 and older or those adults age 18 through 64 at a higher risk of severe COVID-19. This ...