The increased use of telehealth services is a trend that is expected to continue long after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. In keeping with this trend, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a favorable Advisory Opinion that allowed a federally qualified health center (FQHC) to provide free smartphones to its existing patients in an effort to facilitate telehealth services and reduce social isolation caused by the pandemic.…

On April 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced criminal charges against 21 people across the country for COVID-19-related frauds. The defendants are accused of over $149 million in false billings to federal programs and thefts from federally funded pandemic assistance programs. Some of the defendants, in California, New York and Maryland, allegedly obtained patients’ information from performing COVID-19 testing and then filed false Medicare claims for unnecessary medical procedures and office visits that…

On April 12, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days. The PHE had been scheduled to expire on April 16. The PHE originally went into effect in January 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. It provides important flexibilities for healthcare providers, including expanding the types of telehealth services that are reimbursable for Medicare beneficiaries and waiving key reporting requirements. HHS Secretary…

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expanded Medicare coverage for telehealth nationwide, as discussed here. The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Biden last Friday extended the current telehealth accomodations for 151 days after the end of the federal public health emergency, which is currently set to expire in April but will likely be extended until July. The telehealth flexibilities extended by the…

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on March 3 that Ameet Goyal, M.D., a Westchester-based ophthalmologist, was sentenced to 96 months in prison for falsely billing for millions of dollars of upcoded procedures over seven years, and for fraudulently obtaining two business loans under the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Goyal had previously pled guilty to all charges in September. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, “Over…

We don’t often cover brand-new proposed legislation on Rivkin Rounds, generally preferring to wait until it’s closer to becoming law. However, two bipartisan bills introduced in Congress last week are worthy of mention. The Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act would allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to extend certain pandemic-era flexibilities in Medicare payment policies for many telehealth services, including substance abuse treatment services, for an additional two years after the end of…

On Thursday, February 10, in the next installment of Rivkin Radler’s Healthcare Compliance Lunch & Learn series, Rivkin Radler Partner John Diviney will present a review of employment laws taking effect in 2022. The program will take place from 12:00 noon to 1:00 PM Eastern time via Zoom. Some of the topics covered will be: COVID and Vaccine Rules/Updates New York’s COVID pay requirements Vaccine mandate/rules Update on New Laws for 2022 Paid sick leave…